Eyeing alliance, Lalu, Nitish woo Paswan

NEW DELHI: Lok Janshakti Party, which suffered a drubbing in the last general elections and was pushed to the periphery of Bihar politics, has found a fresh lease of life given the air of uncertainty around the 2014 polls. Reduced to being a marginal player after all his candidates lost in 2009 and himself surviving in Parliament at RJD’s mercy, party chief Ram Vilas Paswan is currently being wooed by both RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.

While Lalu is hoping to make the most of a weakened JD(U) by strengthening the long-standing alliance among Congress, RJD and LJP, Kumar is looking at a possible alliance that would strengthen his dalit vote bank and offset the disadvantage of breaking his 17-year-old alliance with the BJP and the choice of not siding with Congress either.

Both parties have been giving feelers to LJP. While RJD has maintained that its alliance with LJP is strong, JD (U) leaders have hinted the party has no problems with Paswan provided he makes the first move.
Though Paswan commands only 5% of votes in Bihar , his secular credentials have given him new-found importance in light of Narendra Modi’s projection as BJP’s PM candidate.

Modi’s campaign is expected to consolidate Muslim votes in favour of any alliance that looks good enough to beat the BJP. With around 15% of Muslim votes and 40 seats at stake, both parties are looking to shore up minority support to halt the BJP in Bihar. Strong pitching for minorities on both sides could also split Muslim votes and end up helping the BJP.

LJP very well understands this and is aware of its importance . Not surprisingly, its leaders, including Paswan, have been saying that LJP’s alliance with RJD is not possible . Following a seat-sharing squabble with RJD, LJP spokesperson Lallan Kumar Chandravanshi told mediapersons in Patna on Thursday, “Today, the long-time alliance is on the brink of collapse... RJD is responsible for this undoubtedly . The alliance has come to such a pass where LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan will be asked to take a clear cut decision . If need arises, LJP has the potential to contest all 40 seats in Bihar.”

Paswan has earlier, however , stressed on the importance of keeping the secular alliance intact. RJD has been working overtime to placate its ally with Bihar RJD chief Abdul Bari Siddiqui meeting Paswan on Wednesday to allay fears of alliance break up. RJD has already distanced itself from statements of its leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh who said LJP should first bring winnable candidates and then talk about seat sharing.

Congress, RJD and LJP had contested the 2004 Lok Sabha election in an alliance winning 29 out of the 40 seats in Bihar. However,the alliance broke up in 2009 when RJD decided to offer only three seats to Congress