Several contenders for President's post, says Paswan

Patna: Lok Janshakti Party chief Ramvilas Paswan today said there were several contenders in the fray for the post of President after Pratibha Patil. “Now there are several contenders for the post in the rest for the forthcoming presidential polls in the country,” Paswan said without naming anyone. He said national parties like Congress and BJP had not not opened their cards on the subject so far. Presidential elections would be held in July. [caption id=“attachment_285480” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Presidential elections would be held in July. AFP”]  [/caption] Questioning the justification of setting up the Savarna Commission to identify the underprivileged families among upper castes in Bihar, Paswan said it would meet with a similar fate as that of the Bandopadhyay Commission on Land reforms, the recommendations of which were yet to be implemented. Paswan, however, advocated 10 percent reservation for the poor among the upper caste. He alleged that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had constituted the Savarna Commission for vote bank politics. On the Mahadalit Commission, Paswan told reporters that the government used the name ‘Mahadalit’ for getting grants from the Centre though there is no mention about such a term in the Constitution. Paswan also described as “drama” the Seva Yatra launched by Kumar, saying people had lost faith in such yatras for “political gain” at the cost of the state exchequer. “The promises being made by Kumar are not being fulfilled. Kumar has even sent Hitler’s Goebbels behind in his spread of propaganda,” he alleged. He said LJP would launch a signature campaign from April 30 to press for promulgation of financial emergency and sacking of Nitish Kumar government in Bihar. PTI