Political temperature rising in Bihar before elections

Speculation is that Ram Vilas Paswan engulfed in a recruitment scam likely to return to the NDA coalition

The political temperature in Bihar has begun soar before the general elections. New alliances are being formed; meanwhile the speculations of fall of old coalitions are also in the air.

The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), on Sunday, joined hands with OBC leader Upendra Kushwaha. The saffron party also defended the former union minister and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan, who has been engulfed in a recruitment scam, fueling the speculations of return of the dalit leader into the National Democratic Alliance. Meanwhile, the power corridors in Patna are also rife with speculations of split in Lalu Yadav led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Several legislators of the RJD are said to be in contact with Janata Dal (United), or the JD (U), leaders.

BJP has given Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) three seats in Bihar. The state unit BJP chief Mangal Pandey said the seats to be contested by the new ally in Bihar would be decided in due course. The state unit BJP chief neither confirmed nor denied speculation that RLSP will contest Nawada, Ujiarpur and Karakat parliamentary seats in Bihar. However, there are some differences within the BJP particularly over the Nawada seat. Former Minister Giriraj Singh has staked claim on that constituency, while the RLSP demands Nawada for its state unit chief and former MP Arun Kumar.

Meanwhile, the BJP is also trying to get cosy with Paswan. Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi today alleged that the UPA government was misusing CBI against Ramvilas Paswan in the recruitment scam in a public sector undertaking to settle political scores with the latter. "We strongly condemn the UPA government for the political misuse of the CBI against political adversaries, this time against Paswan," he said.

The LJP chief came under the CBI scanner after addresses of several candidates, who were selected by adopting fraudulent process, were listed at 12 Janpath, New Delhi; the official residence of Paswan. He was also union minister for chemicals, fertilizers and steel at the time of recruitment. The development comes at a time when the Congress-RJD's efforts to cobble up an alliance with the LJP appears to be falling apart. Paswan wants at least 10 seats for his party and the Congress-RJD is not ready to part with more than 5 seats.

The gossip of the LJP deserting Lalu Prasad comes at a time, when the RJD Chief is fighting to save his own party from split. If the rumours are to believed 14 RJD legislators are planning to switch over to the JD (U). The seat-sharing formula for the general election has irked even the leader of its legislative party and senior leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui. Siddiqui, who had narrowly lost the Madhubani seat in 2009 general election, has again set his eyes on the constituency. However, the RJD chief offered the seat to the Congress to appease its leaders. That made Siddiqui to publicly express his anguish over the matter. The RJD has 22 MLAs in the state assembly.