Bihar polls: BJP-led NDA to campaign jointly with LJP, Amit Shah meets Ram Vilas Paswan

New Delhi: BJP chief Amit Shah on Saturday held talks with Lok Janshakti Party head Ram Vilas Paswan as BJP-led NDA decided to jointly campaign in Bihar assembly polls, slated later this, to take on the Janata Parivar spearheaded by JD(U)-RJD combine. BJP started discussions over seat-sharing with its allies and during the Shah-Paswan meeting, it was decided that all NDA allies will campaign jointly and a programme would be chalked out soon to hold public rallies in each commissionerate of Bihar. However, declaration of candidates for various seats would be done only after the schedule of polls is declared. “We have decided to campaign jointly. BJP, LJP and RLSP will campaign together and hold public rallies jointly and a date will be finalised soon on when to campaign in each of the commissionerates in Bihar,” Paswan said after the meeting. [caption id=“attachment_2294532” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  BJP president Amit Shah met with Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan in New Delhi on Saturday. PTI[/caption] “We held discussions on how to strengthen NDA. We will move jointly and campaign in each commissionerate in Bihar. We will expose the unholy alliance of Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav which has cheated the people of Bihar and is trying to push the state into ‘Jungle Raj’ and will win with a three-fourth majority,” he said. Asked about the seat-sharing arrangement between the alliance partners, he said, there is no fight for the leader and this will be decided by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. “Narendra Modi is the supreme leader of NDA. There is no fight over seat-sharing. When the elections are declared, we will get together and decide,” he said. Party general secretary Bhupender Yadav, who is incharge of party’s affairs in Bihar, said, “Amit Shah and Ram Vilas Sharma held discussions over NDA strategy for Bihar polls. We will jointly launch our poll campaign and will reach out to the public on all issues, where Bihar is gripped with poor law and order and will bring the state back to good governance.” BJP’s national secretary Shrikant Sharma said “good governance and development is the main agenda of BJP in Bihar and to save the state from the clutches of jungle raj-2”. BJP also made it clear that the final call on seat-sharing with allies will be taken by the state unit after mutual consultations and seat assessment. Shah will be visiting Bihar on June 21 and will hold discussions with party leaders in the state. He will also participate in the International Yoga Day celebrations there. Paswan said both Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav were giving statements against each other, with one talking of bad governance and law and order during one’s time and the other talking of “swallowing poison.” “Why is Nitish Kumar with Lalu? With one responsible for bad law and order and the other ‘poison’, then who will save the people of Bihar? It is only NDA. BJP, LJP and RLSP are of one family and there are no differences between us,” he said. Asked about former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s move to join NDA-fold, the LJP leader said “his coming will certainly benefit the alliance. There is no second thought about it.” “We only know that a Mahadalit was insulted and Dalits were sought to be divided by Nitish Kumar,” he alleged. To chalk out the NDA poll strategy, Shah has already met Union Minister Upender Kushwaha whose RLSP is an ally with BJP in Bihar. He has also met Mahadalit leader and former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi who has expressed his desire to contest the Bihar assembly polls as “part and parcel” of the BJP led alliance to “defeat” the Janata Parivar combination. Sharma said “the people of Bihar have already seen a trailer of this ‘jungle raj’ in the last few months ever since Nitish Kumar has come together with Lalu Prasad.” He said “Lalu claims to have swallowed poison by accepting Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister, the people of Bihar will not take this poison. They will never accept Nitish who is carrying the saddle of corruption by Congress and ‘misgovernance’ through ‘jungle raj’ during Lalu’s time.” PTI