Patna: LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Friday dubbed as "nautanki" (drama) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's demand to accord a special status to the state as a pre-condition for support.
"Kumar's demand for a special category status is mere nautanki (drama). Whoever is making this demand is trying to hide his own weaknesses. Development has never been an issue for him," Paswan said in Patna.
Declining to divulge what the Fourth Front comprising LJP, RJD and Samajwadi Party would do after declaration of the Lok Sabha results, Paswan said he would speak to the press only after discussions with alliance partners.
"How can I disclose to the media what we intend to do after the results are out? We will tell you what we will do only after leaders of all three constituents of the Fourth Front meet and take a decision," he said.
On NDA convenor Sharad Yadav's reported talks with him, Paswan said, "So many people including Sharad Yadav, Sonia Gandhi and S Jaipal Reddy called me up after the fire at my residence. Not much should be read into it."
When a journalist said some of them had met him, he said "this is why I don't want to talk to the media. Why are you telling lies? Being in the media you should act responsibly."
On the reported statement by Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh that his party would be sensitive to Kumar's demand for special status to Bihar, Paswan retorted "I am not a spokesman for the Congress or Digvijay Singh. Go and ask them."
Stating that "Bihar is important for us and very important for the country", Singh had said earlier in the day that "sensitiveness will be shown towards Bihar (if Congress came to power). Congress has always been sensitive to Bihar and will remain so".