After meeting with lJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday, senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said the meeting was “good” and they had shared “sweets”. He praised Paswan, saying he is a “senior” leader not only of Bihar but the entire country. “We have worked together during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government,” Prasad said.
BJP leaders Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Shahnawaz Hussain went to Paswan’s residence, removing the veil of secrecy over the ‘behind the scene’ talks.
Soon after, Bihar lJP President Pashupati Kumar Paras and party Parliamentary Board chairman Chirag Paswan met BJP leaders Dharmendra Pradhan, Bihar BJP chief Mangal Pandey, its leader in State Assembly Nand Kishore Yadav and senior leader Sushil Kumar Modi. From the lJP side, Chirag and Paras are negotiating the alliance with BJP after lJP Secretary General Abdul Khalik took a back seat after talks with Congress-RJD failed.
Paswan’s brother Ram Chandra Paswan said the “distance between BJP and lJP has come to an end on poll alliance” in Bihar.
Sources said since now when lJP has agreed to BJP’s offer of seven lok Sabha seats, the official announcement for the tie up remains a formality. lJP would field candidates on Hajipur, Samastipur, Jamui, Munger, Khagaria and Vaishali seats. While Hajipur will be contested by party president himself who lost the seat badly in 2009, Chirag may go for a litmus test from Jamui. Party is yet to finalise names of candidates from seats of the seats.