BJP not to support LJP from outside

The stalemate in Bihar continues with the state ostensibly heading towards President's Rule as political positions harden by the day.

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ramvilas Paswan, who appears to be holding the key to government formation in the state, seems to sticking to with stand of not supporting either the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

While much has been made of his reported offer to the Janata Dal(U) about forming a government together with outside support by the BJP, senior BJP and JD(U) leaders say that the proposal is unworkable.

"How can the LJP and the JD(U) come up with a government together when both Paswan and Nitish Kumar want to be the next chief minister, or when Paswan says he wants to prop up a Muslim candidate?" questioned a senior NDA leader.

He added that even if some compromise was reached, the BJP appeared unwilling to support such a government from outside.

"It is actually up to the BJP and the LJP to hammer out a compromise. We can only do something after that," added a senior JD(U) leader.

The BJP, on the other hand, appears extremely reluctant to supporting such a combine from the outside. "It has been in our experience that whenever we support any government from the outside, we lose politically," said a senior office bearer of the party.

"Look at what happened in Uttar Pradesh when we supported the Mayawati government. There are other instances as well," he added.

"In fact, we feel that our MLAs themselves will not agree to sharing the spoils of power in Bihar," he said. "Ram Vilas Paswan behaves as though we were not a saffron party before 2002, when he ostensibly left us over the Gujarat riots," said the office bearer.

"Despite claiming the so-called secular mandate, it is clear that Paswan won a bit of the anti-RJD vote and nothing else. Not a single one of his Muslim candidates won.

At least 17 of his 29 MLAs are upper-caste Bhumihars and Rajputs, four are Yadav's and the rest are from backward castes. So how can he claim a secular mandate?" asked the BJP leader.

The JD(U) appears to believe that Paswan is angling for President's Rule in the state, which will leave the RJD in a weak position, and thereby get himself some breathing space as well.

"He may want to go one way, his MLAs the other. This will give him space to manoeuvre," said a senior JD(U) leader.

RJD leader Lalu Prasad, too, appears to be getting farther away from his dream of forming a government with help from the Bahujan Samaj Party. BSP MLAs are refusing to support Prasad, along with five Independents, despite Mayawati's assurance to him.

"With President's Rule, the Congress will gain some time to build its support base, Paswan would get breathing space, the NDA will get the moral high ground of wanting a democratically elected government but not being able to form one due to 'Paswan's greed' and the only loser will be Lalu Prasad, who may have to deal with skeletons tumbling out of his closet," said a senior JD(U) leader.