Chirag Paswan berates Bihar Grand Alliance leaders for meeting

The Lok Janshakti Party, a constituent of the ruling NDA, on Sunday berated leaders of the opposition Grand Alliance in Bihar who have been visiting Ranchi to discuss seat-sharing with a tainted politician.

RJD national president Lalu Prasad, who is serving sentences in a number of fodder scam cases, is presently lodged at the RIMS hospital in the Jharkhand capital, where he is undergoing treatment for various ailments.

LJP parliamentary board chairman Chirag Paswan said it was "ironical" that senior leaders of the 'Mahagathbandhan' were "making a beeline to meet a person, convicted for corruption".

"Jail ke raaste se sarkaar banana chah rahe hain" (they want to gain power via jail), he said.

He, however, did not mention Lalu Prasad or his party by name.

Paswan made the comments here before leaving for the national capital when he was asked about the opposition combine which comprises, at present, at least six parties and is trying to buttress its prospects through an electoral understanding with Left parties.

The young LJP MP, who is the son of party founder and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, made the comments in the backdrop of recent visits by RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha, HAM president Jitan Ram Manjhi and Sharad Yadav who heads the LJD, to the RIMS hospital at Ranchi.

Paswan also reiterated his stance on contentious issues such as Ram temple and triple talaq, which he had made clear the day before and said "As a BJP ally, I respect their ideological commitment to these issues. But I have a problem with these being made electoral issues."
Meanwhile, BJP national spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain was shown by news channels as having said in Delhi in reaction to Paswans stand "Ram temple has never been an electoral issue for the BJP. It is an issue of faith and we treat it that way. We have never sought to reap electoral benefits by raising the issue."