Union Food Minister Ramvilas Paswan doubts merger of erstwhile 'Janata Parivar'

PATNA: Union Food Minister Ramvilas Paswan today expressed doubt over merger prospect of erstwhile Janata Parivar comprising the RJD and JD(U) and predicted that it will never materialise at the end.

"I have serious doubt that the merger of the erstwhile Janata Parivar will ever take place as those prominent leaders of its constituents may squabble over leadership of the proposed new party," he told reporters.

Describing the Janata Parivar as a 'misleading family,' Paswan said there was no clarity over concept or agenda on which its constituents will come together to form a new outfit as the leadership issue remained a grey area.

The Union Food Minister, whose party - the LJP - is a constituent of the NDA government at the Centre, sought to create a wedge between the Yadav leaders of the Janata Parivar and the senior JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar saying that as far as he could make out, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, RJD chief Lalu Prasad and the JD(U) national president Sharad Yadav will call the shots in the unified Janata Parivar.

"What will be the role of Nitish Kumar in the new political party in which the Yadav troika will be calling the shots?" the LJP supremo asked.

"I have experience of working with both the RJD supremo and Nitish Kumar....I can safety say that the Janata Parivar will face a bleak prospect in the upcoming assembly polls as both of them can not get their respective votes transferred to each other's candidate," he claimed.

Paswan, who had broken away from the RJD ahead of the general elections last year to re-join the NDA under Narendra Modi's leadership, charged the RJD supremo with being a wily politician who will not allow Nitish Kumar to prosper in the unified party.

"Lalu will not get votes of Yadava community transferred to Nitish Kumar's candidates during assembly polls although he will say so in as many words," the LJP chief said, adding that his RJD counterpart has a tendency to display camaraderie in public with political 'friends', but doing exactly opposite by giving subtle message to his supporters against voting for such friends and their candidates during elections.

He had been a victim of the former's machination in the past on quite a few occasions, Paswan said.