Upendra Kushwaha meets Tejashwi, LJP in touch with RJD

PATNA: NDA allies LJP and RLSP started hectic parleys with RJD on Friday soon after BJP chief Amit Shah and JD(U) president and CM Nitish Kumar made announcement in Delhi that their parties would contest equal number of Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.
While RLSP president Upendra Kushwaha met RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav at Arwal circuit house, around 70km from Patna, LJP’s parliamentary board chairman and Jamui MP Chirag Paswan had a 10-minute telephonic conversation with Tejashwi.
Though Kushwaha clarified that it was a chance meeting, a senior RJD functionary confirmed that Chirag called Tejashwi. “Although I am not aware what exactly transpired between them, but it seemed a positive talk minutes after the announcement of seat-sharing between JD(U) and BJP,” the RJD man accompanying Tejashwi at Arwal said.
Chirag, however, claimed LJP would remain in the NDA. “We will continue working together to strengthen the NDA ahead of 2019 election. Positive talks are being held and we hope LJP will also get a respectable share of seats to contest,” Chirag told reporters at Delhi.
LJP has been demanding seven seats which it had contested in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. LJP Bihar president Pashupati Kumar Paras said on Tuesday his party would not agree on less than seven seats in Bihar and also demanded a few seats in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand as well.
RLSP too has been flexing muscles by repeatedly weighing its ‘kheer’ option (milk of Yadavas and rice of Kushwahas) with RJD. “As far as 50:50 seat-sharing formula is concerned, the exact numbers are still to be announced. Nonetheless, meetings are being held for finalizing seats among the NDA allies and we expect a final decision in the next two-three days,” Kushwaha said.
Speculations are rife that if RLSP is not be given “desired” number of seats, it will join the RJD-led grand alliance. “We don’t have any problem with 50:50 arrangement between BJP and JD(U), but BJP president Amit Shah has also said all allies in NDA will get respectable share of seats. We had won three seats in Bihar in 2014 and expect at least the same number of seats this time as well,” RLSP’s national general secretary and spokesperson Madhaw Anand told TOI over phone.
JD(U) and BJP will have to settle for 15 seats each if LJP and RLSP are given 7 and 3 seats, respectively, out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar to contest.