‘Nitish Kumar will be NDA face, LJP free to go’

NEW DELHI: Even as Lok Janshakti Party refrained from carrying out its publicised threat of walking out of NDA to protest against Nitish Kumar's projection as the alliance's face in Bihar polls, JD(U) made it clear on Monday that it would brook no challenge to the Bihar CM and that Ram Vilas Paswan’s outfit was free to take whatever decision it wished to.
“NDA will contest elections under Nitish Kumar. There should not be any confusion on that score. LJP is free to walk out if its wants to,” JD(U) secretary general K C Tyagi said in what marked an escalation of the intra-NDA tension ahead of the polls. A meeting of LJP’s “parliamentary board” saw many attendees expressing re sentment against Kumar’s leadership.
However, in the statements issued afterwards, they refrained from making public their angst against the CM whom BJP has already projected as NDA's CM face in Bihar.
LJP chief Chirag Paswan, instead, talked of the party's demand for a common minimum programme, claiming LJP had no grouse against “any individual”.
The statement suggested mellowing of the earlier aggression, especially on behalf of Chirag whom political circles see as a CM aspirant, and underlined the influence of food and civil supplies minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who is opposed to quitting NDA. The moderation, however, failed to move JD(U).