Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan on Monday asked the Janata Dal (United) not to blame others for the purported rift between the alliance partners in Bihar, reported India Today.
“I do positive politics,” Paswan said at a press conference. “I am no model. There has been a split in the house of the one [JD(U)] who broke the house of another. It would be better not to look for reasons outside the party.”
Paswan’s statement comes a day after the Janata Dal (United) said it will not join Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Union Cabinet during the next expansion. Both the parties have an alliance government in Bihar.
Moreover, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also did not attend the NITI Aayog meet.
These incidents gave rise to speculative reports about a widening rift between the Bharatiya Janata Party and its ally, Janata Dal (United). However, Janata Dal (United) President Rajiv Ranjan Singh on Sunday dismissed the speculations at a press conference in Patna.
Singh, however, suggested that his party performed poorly in the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections as Paswan conspired with the BJP. Janata Dal (United) won 43 seats while its ally BJP won 74.
In the 2020 elections, Paswan had decided to contest against Janata Dal (United) but had spared the BJP. This was seen as BJP’s conspiracy to dent Janata Dal (United)’s performance in the polls so that it can emerge as a senior partner in the coalition, according to media reports.
On Sunday, Janata Dal (United) president, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, alleged that a party was trying to implement the “Chirag model” through RCP Singh, a former Union Minister. RCP Singh quit the the Janata Dal (United) a day ago.
On Monday, Paswan said that his model did not defeat Kumar but the 13 crore Bihar residents did.
Paswan added that he was only committed to the model followed by his father Ram Vilas Paswan, reported NDTV.
“What does Nitish Kumar know about Ram Vilas model of development, his Bihar first, Bihari first model,” he said. “Nitish Kumar did not leave an opportunity to attack my father.”
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