Tejashwi Yadav urged Chirag Paswan to reconsider his one-sided love for the NDA.
Highlights
- Chirag Paswan's ties with the BJP-led NDA are at crossroads
- Tejashwi Yadav alleged that Nitish Kumar was behind LJP split
- RJD to pay tribute to Ram Vilas Paswan on its foundation day: Sources
After sending out warm vibes to Chirag Paswan, whose ties with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) are at a crossroads, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav is set for his next grand gesture.
Tejashwi Yadav, say sources, is planning to pay homage to Chirag Paswan's father and former Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on his birth anniversary on July 5.
Tejashwi Yadav's RJD or Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) also marks its foundation day on July 5 but sources say this time, the celebrations will be preceded by a short tribute to Ram Vilas Paswan, who died in October last year.
On the same day, Chirag Paswan plans to launch a statewide roadshow from his father's constituency Hajipur in Bihar, seen as a show of strength after a coup in the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) saw his uncle Pashupati Paras casting him out of key roles and taking over as chief of the party his father founded.
On Wednesday, Tejashwi Yadav urged Chirag Paswan to reconsider his one-sided love for the NDA and "decide who he wants to stand with".
The Bihar Leader of Opposition also alleged that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was the mastermind in the LJP split.
If Tejashwi Yadav and Chirag Paswan had anything in common besides their fathers' Janata Dal roots, is their political aversion to Nitish Kumar.
Speaking to reporters at the Patna airport on his return from Delhi, Mr Yadav also reminded Chirag Paswan that in 2005 and 2010, Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United facilitated similar splits in the LJP.
On the other hand, Mr Yadav said, his father and RJD chief Lalu Prasad had "helped Ram Vilas Paswan get a Rajya Sabha seat" after he lost his Lok Sabha seat.
"Chirag Paswan must now decide who he wants to stand with - those abiding by the Bunch of Thoughts (RSS icon MS Golwalkar's writings) or those for whom the constitution drafted by BR Ambedkar is supreme," Mr Yadav said.
When reporters quoted Nitish Kumar's party as saying it knew nothing about the LJP revolt, the RJD leader scoffed: "Nitish Kumar never knows anything. Perhaps, he does not even read the papers. He must be unaware that in 27 out of 38 districts of Bihar, the price of petrol has crossed ₹ 100 per litre."