Paswan takes swipe at Janata Parivar merger

He said that voices of dissent are already emerging between JD(U) and RJD

Taking a swipe at the proposed merger of Janata Parivar, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president and union minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution Ram Vilas Paswan today labelled the new formation as a non-starter.

He said while it was already known that Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav would head the merged entity, the various constituents were yet to finalise the party name, flag and symbol.

"Former Prime Minister V P Singh was the original head of the erstwhile Janata Parivar and Paswan was closest lieutenant, but I am not part of the merged entity," he said addressing the media here.

The decision to merge the six erstwhile socialist parties was announced in New Delhi on April 15 in the presence of their top leadership. The six constituents are SP, JDU, RJD, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), JD (S) and Samajwadi Janata Party (SJP).

In the 2010 Bihar elections, JD (U) had won 115 seats, followed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 91, RJD 22, Congress 4, LJP 3, while other parties and independents had won 8 seats.

He claimed that all the major opposition parties, including Lalu Yadav-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RJD), Janata Dal (United) and Congress had already prepared their candidates' list for the 243 Bihar assembly polls due later this year.

He observed any union would not succeed unless there was meeting of the hearts also.

"Already, there are voices of dissent within the JD()U and RJD for retaining their original party name and symbol even after the merger. One can only imagine what would happen in the run up the Bihar polls," he surmised.

Paswan charged these parties with befooling the dalits and referred to the 'maltreatment' of former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi at the hands of present incumbent Nitish Kumar to buttress his point.

On the return of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi after a hiatus of almost two months, he remarked it would make no difference either to the Congress of other parties.