The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) has thrown up another challenge before the BJP by demanding that Reena Paswan, the widow of former Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan be sent to the Rajya Sabha after the demise of the Dalit leader and the founder president of the party on Oct 8 last.
According to sources the LJP has even written a letter in this regard to the Prime Minister. On the other hand, there are a couple of BJP leaders, including former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who have their eyes on that seat. As he has not been accommodated anywhere in the state he wants to shift to the politics at the national level.
The Janata Dal (United) which has repeatedly accused the LJP of ensuring defeat of many of its candidates is against the Dalit outfit be given this seat. The party has demanded its ouster from the National Democratic Alliance.
The working president of the state unit of Janata Dal (United), Ashok Chaudhary, who is also a minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet said that the LJP had not only worked against his own party but also against the BJP.
It needs to be mentioned that 22 BJP functionaries had contested the last Assembly elections as rebels and most of them got ticket of the LJP.
The LJP which contested 143 seats could win only one. The issue of Rajya Sabha by-election has once again intensified fight within the NDA as the LJP president Chirag Paswan had in the past repeatedly accused Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar of creating obstacles in the election of his father to the Upper House of Parliament.
However, the latter had denied the charge by stating that with just two MLAs in the last Assembly Ram Vilas would never have entered the Rajya Sabha.
