Janata Parivar merger not to affect NDA: Paswan

Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday said the merger of erstwhile Janata Parivar's six parties last week will neither have any impact on the National Democratic Alliance-led central government nor on the upcoming Bihar polls.

"There would be no impact of the merger of six parties of Janata Parivar including JD-U and RJD in Bihar on the NDA-led government at the Centre and upcoming Bihar elections," said Paswan, chief of Lok Janshakti Party, an ally of the BJP.

Paswan claimed that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would form the next government in Bihar after state assembly elections later this year.

He also questioned the survival of the new party after the merger of six parties at the national level which occurred on April 15. "They will end up fighting and finishing each other," he said.

Paswan also said that Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is a senior Janata Dal-United leader, have lost their identity.

Earlier, senior BJP leaders, including former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, had stated that the merger would not affect the party in Bihar's polls.