Chirag Paswan calls meeting with party MPs over differences in seat sharing with JDU

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) Chief Chirag Paswan has called for a meeting with party MPs on September 16 to discuss over the discomfort with ally and ruling Janata Dal-United (JDU). Reportedly, the meeting has been called to discuss the difference of opinion with JDU over seat-sharing for the upcoming assembly election.

The issues around the seat-sharing were said to be raised by Bihar Parliamentary board meeting on September 7. It was also decided in the last Parliamentary Board Bihar meeting of the party that a list of 143 candidates should be prepared and should be sent to the central leadership.

LJP leaders have already authorised Chirag Paswan to take the decision on Bihar polls and that will be acceptable to the party members.

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Nadda meets Nitish

As massive speculations were made about the tiff between the LJP and JDU, JP Nadda asserted that both parties will contest the elections under the leadership of CM Nitish Kumar. He also met Bihar CM Nitish Kumar for more than half an hour, and discussed the seat-sharing as well as the ongoing power tussle between LJP and JDU. Nadda was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, national general secretary and state in-charge Bhupendra Yadav and state president Sanjay Jaiswal. The JD(U) national president, welcomed the leaders at his official residence 1, Anney Marg with other JDU leaders Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan. 

Tussle between JDU and LJP

While Chirag Paswan has targeted Nitish Kumar a number of times, JDU has compared Chirag to 'Kalidasa' who chops the branch of the tree on which he is sitting. As the power tussle spills out into the open with the poll campaign kickstarting in the state, JDU leader KC Tyagi, earlier this week, said that any party which is a part of the NDA in the state will have to accept Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's leadership, noting that top BJP leaders, including Amit Shah and its president JP Nadda, have announced that the alliance will fight the upcoming Bihar assembly polls under Kumar's stewardship.

Responding on the same, in a statement, LJP has now said that Tyagi has done them a 'favour' by making it clear that the two parties have never had any alliance. "We welcome this statement from the JDU that his party has never had any alliance with the LJP. JDU leader KC Tyagi has done us a favour," the LJP said in a statement.

(With inputs from agencies. Image credit: PTI)

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