Paswans are welcome to Cong fold: Ranjeet Ranjan

Congress party MP Ranjeet Ranjan on Thursday said that her party's door is open to welcome Ram Vilas Paswan and his Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).

"Chirag Paswan and Ram Vilas Paswan ji have understood the political climate. Now they don't want to step in a sinking boat. They have realised that the issues they are taking along with NDA, are wrong," Ranjan told ANI.

"Even though the Congress high command decides who will be welcomed into the party or not, if they want to join hands with us, our doors are open. We will welcome them," she added.

On Wednesday, Chirag Paswan, son of Ram Vilas Paswan while being critical of the BJP, praised Congress president Rahul Gandhi, saying he had raised "real" issues of the youth and farmers, which fetched his party victory in the recently-held Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

Chirag told ANI that the BJP lost the recent Assembly elections because it failed to address the issues of farmers and unemployment among youths and remained focussed on the Ram temple only.

LJP leader also said the BJP should look into the concerns of its NDA allies, because of the "delicate" phase the alliance was passing through.

"National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is passing through a delicate phase after Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) pulled out of the alliance," Chirag had tweeted in Hindi earlier this week.

"At this point of time, the BJP should look into the concerns of the parties who are still in alliance with them before it is too late," he had further added.

Chirag also claimed that he had met BJP leaders for discussing matters pertaining to seat-sharing for the coming Lok Sabha elections, but nothing substantial was achieved.

"We spoke to the BJP leaders about the seat share, but nothing substantial has come out till now. It is in their interest to ensure the decisions in this matter are taken well in time. Otherwise, they (BJP) will have to bear the damages," he had stated on the micro-blogging site.