RLJP to stay in NDA: Pashupati Paras

India

oi-Deepika S

Patna, Aug 09:
Amid
ongoing
political
crisis
in
Bihar,
Union
Minister
and
RLJP
president
Pashupati
Paras
on
Tuesday
said
his
party
will
remain
a
part
of
NDA.

“Our
party
is
with
the
BJP
100
per
cent,”
Paras
told
PTI
following
a
meeting
of
its
parliamentary
board
where
a
decision
to
back
the
BJP
was
taken
amid
an
imminent
collapse
of
the
saffron
party’s
alliance
with
the
Janata
Dal
(United).

A
decision
was
taken
to
ally
with
the
BJP
in
2014
under
the
leadership
of
LJP
founder
and
Dalit
stalwart
Ram
Vilas
Paswan,
and
his
party
will
continue
to
adhere
to
his
decision,
he
said.
Paras
is
a
younger
brother
of
Paswan.

His
decision
is
significant
as
the
split
engineered
by
him
in
the
LJP
against
the
leadership
of
Chirag
Paswan
was
seen
to
have
the
backing
of
Bihar
Chief
Minister
Nitish
Kumar’s
JD(U).

With
support
of
160
MLAs,
Nitish
Kumar
stakes
claim
to
form
government
in
Bihar
‘AGAIN’

Kumar
was
unhappy
with
Chirag
Paswan’s
decision
to
field
candidates
against
his
party
in
2020
assembly
polls,
leading
to
a
drastic
fall
in
the
JD(U)’s
tally
and
relegating
it
to
the
status
of
a
junior
partner
of
the
BJP.

Paras
was
then
inducted
as
a
Cabinet
minister
in
the
Modi
government.
“It
is
impossible
to
get
a
leader
like
Modi.
He
is
the
needs
of
the
country.
Till
I
do
politics
I
will
be
in
the
NDA”
Paras
said.
His
party
has
five
MPs
in
Lok
Sabha.

Nitish
Kumar
has
split
with
ally
BJP
for
the
second
time
in
eight
years
and
submitted
his
resignation
to
Governor
Phagu
Chauhan.