)
Giving a boost to the possibility of a pre-poll tie-up with BJP, top LJP leader Chirag Paswan today said the party has no issues with Narendra Modi after courts have given him a "clean" chit in the 2002 riots.
Chirag, son of LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan, refused to clearly spell out whether the party would be having an alliance with BJP and merely said the party's Parliamentary Board will meet soon to decide on the issue of alliances.
Sources said that LJP, which was a part of NDA before parting way after the 2002 Gujarat riots, is unhappy over the dilly dallying by Congress and RJD over seat-sharing and is considering other options.
ALSO READ: Political temperature rising in Bihar before elections
ALSO READ: Political temperature rising in Bihar before elections
Chirag, who heads LJP's Parliamentary Board, and his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras are in talks with BJP for a possible alliance, the sources said.
At the same time, the sources said, the alliance with Congress and RJD stands as of now.
While remaining tight-lipped on the issue of talks, Chirag Paswan said there is "distress" in the party over the way the seat-sharing issue has been dragging with Congress and Lalu Prasad-led RJD.
Asked whether LJP would have no problem with Modi in view of cases against him in connection with 2002 riots, Chirag said, "If the court has given its verdict and they say he (Modi) is clean, then I do not think it is an issue to talk about now."
BJP president Rajnath Singh, however, was evasive on the issue, saying he was "not aware of what kind of talks" are taking place with LJP.
Asked if there would be any decision soon, he said, "if some announcement has to be made, you will be told."
BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said a number of parties are reaching out to BJP as it is surging and Congress is losing. "But unless something concrete happens, we will not like to share anything," he said.
At the same time, there were voices of opposition within BJP over possible tie-up with LJP.
Senior BJP leader from Bihar Ashwini Choubey said he will be "very hurt" if such a thing was happening.
"What is the point in aligning with someone, whom we had reduced to zero in last election? Where will we go by adopting such politics minus principles," he asked.
He slammed LJP, saying it had "always abused" BJP and were "engaged in practising politics of corruption dynasty and casteism."
LJP Secretary General Abdul Khalik, who has been holding negotiations with Congress and RJD on seat-sharing, said the talks are still going on.
"It is not yet over," he said when asked whether the alliance with Congress and RJD is over.
Khalik, who had been negotiating from the LJP side with Congress and RJD on seat sharing, said he is not involved in any alliance talks with BJP but parried questions on whether talks with the BJP are going on or not.
BJP, which is keenly trying to woo dalits, is expected to get a boost if a pre-poll alliance with LJP fructifies.
Ram Vilas Paswan was a minister in BJP-led NDA government before he shifted and became a part of Congress-led UPA. He was a minister in UPA-I government and is still supporting the government from outside.
Congress leader Manish Tewari termed as speculation that BJP and LJP were going to have an alliance.
"A person who chose to walk out of a government on the question of Gujarat riots would find it hard to take a U-turn on that position considering that issues arising out of the incidents of 2002 continue to remain unaddressed, especially the question of justice for the victims.
Though a number of leaders in LJP are favouring an alliance with BJP, sources close to Paswan say that the leader has not yet taken the final call on dumping UPA.
Khalik said, "The party is feeling suffocated and cornered because negotiations (with Congress and RJD) in last three months have not yielded the desired result. LJP is getting an impression that it is not wanted in the alliance."
Replying to questions about the alliance, Chirag Paswan said, "Yes I will agree to the fact that there has been a distrust in the party leaders because there is no clarity over alliance (with Congress and RJD). That's why very soon, we can have Parliamentary Board meeting in which we are going to decide what our future strategy is going to be."
Sources said that LJP leaders from Bihar are primarily involved in talks with BJP.
BJP MP Shahnawaj Hussein had called on LJP a few days back while senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad had visited Paswan on January 14 on the day of Makar Sankranti. Both the visits were downplayed by the BJP leaders then.
A former LJP MP from Bihar, Surajbhan Singh, had yesterday said that the LJP will enter into an alliance with BJP and a formal announcement would be made very soon.
The sources in the party said that LJP had given a list of 10 seats it wanted to contest out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar to AICC general secretary in-charge for Bihar C P Joshi in January itself.
LJP sources said the party last week told leaders from Congress and RJD that it is ready to settle for nine seats. LJP, which had fought the last Lok Sabha polls in alliance with RJD minus Congress, failed to open its account.
"But we notched second position on nine seats that we are demanding. The problem is that most of these seats are now being eyed by Congress or RJD," a LJP leader said on condition of anonymity.
If LJP allies with the BJP, it will mean the party completing a full circle on the issue of alliance.
Earlier, Paswan had a few days back given indication of aligning with JD(U) by praising Nitish Kumar and maintaining that there are "two views" within his party with some favouring an alliance with RJD and others with the JD(U).
Paswan's party had been an alliance partner of NDA government but the LJP chief was the first to quit the BJP-led alliance in 2002 post-Godhra riots when Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
Paswan had joined the UPA alliance in 2004 and became a cabinet minister. His party had then got only four seats. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was Railway Minister in UPA-I. After a bitter rivalry for some time in UPA-I, the two had inched closer by the end of 2008.
In 2009 Lok Sabha polls, while RJD and LJP fought together, Congress walked out of the alliance.
In 2004, when Congress, RJD and LJP had contested together in Bihar they had won 29 of the 40 seats with RJD winning 22, LJP 4 and Congress 3.
In 2009, when they fought minus Congress, LJP failed to open its account and Paswan himself lost from home turf Hajipur, RJD won only four seats and Congress two. This time both Paswan and Prasad have shown inclination to ally with Congress. While Prasad met Congress President Sonia Gandhi as well as Rahul Gandhi, Paswan had also held consultation with the Congress Chief on the issue. There where, however, some hitches on the issue of seat sharing.
RJD Supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav had yesterday said that exclusion was not his policy.
"He (Paswan) is a dalit leader and we don't have any feeling of disrespect towards him. In our eyes, the leader (Surajbhan Singh) who has made this announcement, is not a big leader. Our target in these elections is Modi as we have to save the country from disintegration," he had said.
