Chirag Paswan writes to Modi on Bihar imbroglio

The disagreements between the Janata Dal-United and the Lok Janshakti Party over seat-sharing seem to persist despite Bharatiya Janata Party President J.P. Nadda’s claims that all is well in the National Democratic Alliance camp in poll-bound Bihar.

On Monday, LJP President Chirag Paswan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, purportedly setting out his stand on seat-sharing for the upcoming Assembly election.

A highly-placed source in the LJP confirmed the development but evinced no knowledge of the letter’s contents.

“The letter is confidential and is between our party President and the Prime Minister and party (LJP) leaders are yet to know its content. We assume that the letter is based on the current situation of Bihar and LJP’s seat-sharing formula,” he said.

On Saturday, Nadda has asserted that there is no dispute between the JD-U and the LJP.

“It (LJP) is our alliance partner and it will not going anywhere,” he had said.

Chirag Paswan has also made it clear that his party would not challenge the BJP’s decision.

Earlier, Chirag Paswan’s father and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, in an emotional tweet, said he “strongly stands” by all decisions of his son, who “is capable of taking the party to new heights”. “Chirag is taking care of me and also bearing the responsibility of party in very impressive manner,” he had written.

The seat-sharing arrangements in the NDA are a major concern at the moment, especially when the LJP parliamentary board has announced it will fight on 143 of the state’s 243 seats.

The JD-U wants the seats to be divided into two parts – between it and the BJP, and while it would allocate seats to new entrant Hindustani AwamMorcha (HAM) from its quota, the BJP will give seats to the LJP from their quota.

The BJP, on the other hand, wants a three part division between it, the LJP and the JD-U, with the latter taking care of HAM from its share.