BJP Allies given an Ultimatum Over Seat Sharing

Janjivan Bureau
Patna:  With elections to the Bihar Assembly drawing closer, it seems all is not well within the National Democratic Alliance, which is taking on the combined might of Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav in the polls.
Crucial allies of the BJP in the state – Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samta Party -held a press conference in Patna today , staking claim to as many as 140 out of the 243 seats in the Assembly.
“The BJP has never contested 140 seats. So they should leave those many seats to us and contest the remaining 102,” said Pashupati Paras, state president of the Lok Janshakti Party and also Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s younger brother.
Arun Kumar, a Lok Sabha MP with the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party was more scathing in his attack of the BJP. “We would like to say that elections are here soon. So we would like an NDA meeting within a week. We need to set aside our differences and get down to working soon,” he said.
Sources in both parties say they are upset with the BJP’s big brother attitude in the state where it seems the BJP is all set to corner a majority of the Assembly seats, leaving a few to the allies.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha Polls, the LJP won out 6 of the 7 seats it was given, while the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party won all 3 seats it contested.
BJP state president Mangal Pandey was diplomatic when asked about these issues. “We will sit together soon and sort out all problems,” was all he was willing to say.
Nitish Kumar, Lalu Yadav and the Congress have already announced a seat sharing arrangement in the state, with 100 each to the Janta Dal United and the Rashtriya Janta Dal and 40 seats to the Congress.