Nitish Kumar keeps doors open for LJP's Ram Vilas Paswan ahead of Lok Sabha elections

PATNA: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has kept the door open for an alliance with Ram Vilas Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party ahead of the upcoming general elections while ruling out a tie-up with the Congress, which supported his government after he parted ways with the BJP but appears increasingly poised to join hands with his rival Lalu Prasad.

“JD(U) is not in queue seeking alliance with the Congress. As far as LJP is concerned, we have not had any formal talks with them but Ram Vilasji is a very nice soul and I respect him very much. But it all depends on what he decides, it is for him take a call on alliance,” Kumar said on Monday.

The chief minister also lashed out at his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi, whose anointment as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate had led Kumar to snap the alliance in Bihar, saying the 2002 riots in Gujarat could neither be forgotten or forgiven. Without naming the Gujarat chief minister, Kumar also questioned Modi’s promise of introducing bullet trains in India.

A day after Modi’s comments at the BJP conclave in Delhi, Kumar said, “When I was the railway minister, discussions were held on high-speed trains but no decision could be taken as the project was not found to be economically viable.”