Already putting pressure on the BJP leadership to nominate him as the Chief Minister, Union Minister of State and president of Rashtriya lok Samata Party (RlSP) Upendra Kushwaha on Monday criticised the saffron party, “the tussle that prevailed in the BJP over leadership issue”.“There are open differences in the BJP over the CM issue. Different leaders of the party are speaking differently but we don’t want any clash with the BJP and to avoid it we have come up with a proposal,” said Kushwaha, whose party has projected him as the CM pick.
Kushwaha, who had earlier served as the leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly for a brief period and also a member of Rajya Sabha, thanks to Nitish Kumar, said his party deserved to get 67 Assembly seats. He even suggested that the lJP of Ram Vilas Paswan be given 74 seats and that the BJP should contest 102 seats. In this formula, the RlSP chief has not accommodated former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi who has decided to align with the BJP.
The BJP leaders are downplaying the ambitions of Kushwaha. Party president Amit Shah, who was here on Sunday and after the yoga session held meeting with the party leaders, reportedly downplayed the RlSP’s demand and told partymen that their posturing was a mere temporary pre-poll hiccup and the issue would be amicably sorted out when a meeting over seat-sharing would be held with the allies.
lJP chief and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, however, reiterated that neither he nor any from his party was in the race for the CM’s post. He asserted that his party would accept any person picked up by Narednra Modi for the chair. “Our main purpose is to stop the bid to bring back jungle raaj,” he said.
But Paswan also said that his party would oppose the entry of five politicians who had left the lJP and had joined the JD(U) and are now with Manjhi. He said Manjhi’s entry in the NDA would benefit the alliance but he would ensure that those five leaders, including former Minister Narendra Singh and his two legislator sons, are not accommodated in NDA.
Manjhi said he was not aware of what Paswan had said but added that he was not the sole authority to decide who will be a part of NDA and who will not.
Meanwhile, the Opposition is taking pleasure in NDA’s raging conflict over leadership and seat-sharing. Without taking any name, JD(U) president Sharad Yadav said, “It is impossible for them (BJP) to tame the creatures they have taken in. We know they will not stay at one place for long.”
RJD supremo lalu Prasad said the BJP was already on fire and does not know when this volcano will explode. Attacking his critics who raked up bogie of jungle raaj in Bihar, lalu thundered, “If there is jungle raaj, why you are living hereIJ It will be better for them to run away.”