LJP may contest in 143 seats in Bihar
New Delhi: Playing to the tunes of BJP, which is aiming to become number one party in terms of its strength post-Bihar assembly polls, the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) on Monday has decided to pit its candidates against Janata Dal (United) — a key constituent in the ruling alliance.
At a crucial meeting of the party's parliamentary board from Bihar ahead of the state assembly elections, the LJP has authorised its national president Chirag Paswan to take a call on fielding candidates against the JD-U nominees.
However, as per sources, the party has decided to field at least 143 candidates against JD-U nominees in the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.
It means, the LJP would not field its candidates at 100 seats, which would be contested by BJP as the LJP has already made it clear that its alliance with the BJP and not with JD-U.
As per political experts, the whole exercise is to divide the Dalit vote share as if the situation remains same, Jitan Ram Manjhi would also field its candidates against LJP nominees that may go in favour of BJP.
According to the party's parliamentary board president Raju Tiwari, the board would soon hand over the candidates' names to the Central Parliamentary Board for 143 seats in the state.
Earlier in the day, the JD-U said that any party which is a part of the NDA in the state will have to accept Kumar's leadership.
JD(U) spokesperson KC Tyagi said, "There is no question of leadership change as top BJP leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah and party president JP Nadda, have announced that the NDA will fight the upcoming Bihar assembly polls under Kumar's leadership."
He further said, "The JD(U) has always had an alliance with the BJP in Bihar and at times in other states, but not with any other NDA member.
Making it clear that JD-U won't enter into an alliance with the LJP, he said, "Whether it was in 2005, 2010 or 2015 assembly polls, we have never had any tie-up with the LJP."
Notably, the LJP had contested on 42 seats in the 2015 elections in alliance with the BJP and other NDA members. The JD(U) was then a part of the opposition alliance in Bihar.
