Nearly 12 years after he walked out of the NDA, lJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday returned to the BJP-led alliance in what is seen as one of the most dramatic political developments ahead of the lok Sabha polls. The BJP has agreed to give the lJP seven out of 40 lok Sabha seats at stake in Bihar.
Paswan’s return to the NDA will help the BJP make a dent in Dalit votes in Bihar and elsewhere. But more than anything, it will come handy in silencing those who still harp on the 2002 Gujarat riots to question the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s secular credentials.
late on Thursday night, Paswan drove to BJP chief Rajnath Singh’s residence where the two leaders announced the tie-up with a handshake and a smile. “Ram Vilas Paswan and his party lJP are now part of the NDA. Paswan realised that only the NDA can take the country out of its misery. I welcome his move,” Singh said.
Singh expressed confidence that both the BJP and lJP will benefit out of this alliance. “It will strengthen the NDA not just in Bihar but the entire country,” Singh said at a Press conference at his residence. Singh also said that Paswan will soon meet BJP veteran lK Advani and Narendra Modi. Earlier, in the day BJP leaders Rajiv Pratap Rudy,
Ravi Shankar Prasad and Shahnawaz Hussain went to Paswan’s residence where they were received by his son Chirag Paswan. Praising Paswan as an important leader, whose return to the NDA will send a strong message among the Dalit community across the country, Rajnath Singh said the lJP chief would address a rally with Modi in Muzaffarpur on March 3. This will be a keenly watched event as Paswan has been one of the most vocal critics of Modi since he resigned from the Vajpayee Government in 2002 over the Gujarat riots.
Paswan’s return to the NDA will be a major blow to the Congress and dilute its personalised attack on Modi. In pure electoral terms, Paswan will considerably boost the BJP’s prospects in Bihar. Conversely, lalu Prasad’s RJD and the Congress will badly miss his absence even if they go to the polls together. Earlier in the day, Paswan met senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Shahnawaz Hussain at his residence to give a final shape to the alliance. The three leaders were involved in behind-the-scene negotiations with Paswan.