Lalu-Nitish alliance not formidable: Paswan

Union Minister and Lok Jan Shakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan today said the "secular" parties who have come together in Bihar are not a formidable alliance in the upcoming Assembly elections as people are aware of their "misrule" which hit the state's development for decades.
"That they - Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav - are a formidable force - that is a wrong idea...These people have destroyed Bihar, and these very people have joined hands now. People of Bihar know about their misrule...The people will teach them a lesson and make them bite the dust," he told reporters here.

Paswan said the alliance partners - JDU, RJD and Congress - will fight each other over ticket distribution. "These very people will defeat each other. Both (JDU and RJD) are wielding knives and both will stab each other. I was with them and I know Nitish and Lalu. One is neem and another is a bitter gourd," he said.
"All - Lalu Yadav, Congress and Nitish - have announced they will contest all 243 seats...They will fight against each other. Therefore in politics, 2 into 2 is not four, sometimes 2 into 2 is zero."
Moreover, Rahul Gandhi will not invite Lalu Yadav to participate in election rallies as the Congress Vice President was cautious of his clean image, Paswan said. In the last elections too, Gandhi did not invite him. "Rahul Gandhi is cautious about his image," he added.

Paswan said Nitish Kumar who was headstrong before the Lok Sabha elections could only win two seats and was still "playing politics" on the basis of caste and creed.

To a query, Paswan said he was not in the race for chief minister's post, but would abide NDA's decision on the matter. "I am not in the race. LJP is not in the race. Whatever NDA decides - before the polls or after, we will stand by it."
Paswan said NDA would not announce its Chief Ministerial candidate. "NDA will fight as usual. In all recently-concluded assembly elections including Haryana, NDA had not announced its Chief Ministerial candidate, except Delhi," he said.

However, the allies will abide by the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Narendra Modji is the chief of the government. Whatever he decides, we will abide by it," he said.