LJP to oppose 5 HAM candidates in Bihar assembly polls

He said that his party has already apprised its decision to the senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, said state unit LJP President

In a fissure within the NDA camp, the LJP today vowed to oppose five present and former MLAs associated with former Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morch (Secular) in Assembly polls notwithstanding its decision to welcome Manjhi's outfit in the BJP-led coalition.

"We will oppose the candidature of the dissident JD(U) MLA and former agriculture minister Narendra Singh's two MLA sons - Ajay Pratap (Jamui) and Sumit Kumar Singh (Chakai), the disqualified JD(U) MLAs Raju Singh (Sahebganj) and Ajit Kumar (Kanti), besides the JD(U) MLA Anil Kumar (Tekari)," state unit LJP President Pashupati Kumar Paras told reporters.

He said that his party has already apprised its decision to the senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi.

"We will put up our candidates against these five present and former MLAs as some of them had deserted the LJP in the past, while in case of others (rest) our candidates had lost by a narrow margin in the 2010 assembly polls," Paras said.

The move followed Narendra Singh, then the state unit LJP President, having split the party in 2005 and walked out with a dozen MLAs after the electorate had given a fractured mandate in assembly polls held earlier that year.

LJP supremo Ramvilas Paswan, who is the Union Food and Consumers Affairs Minister, nodded when asked to comment on his younger brother's assertion that his party will put up candidates against these five present and former MLAs if the HAM (Secular) were to give tickets to them in the upcoming assembly polls despite both parties being part of the NDA.

When reporters asked Paswan to explain the issue, he added that Paras has already explained the matter and he has nothing more to say.

The LJP had earlier hailed Manjhi's decision to join the NDA saying that the HAM (Secular)'s joining will boost the BJP-led coalition's electoral prospects in Bihar and ensure defeat of the secular alliance at the hustings.