The Lok Janshakti Party, a constituent of the ruling NDA, on Sunday berated leaders of the opposition Grand Alliance in Bihar who have been visiting Ranchi to discuss seat-sharing with a tainted politician.
RJD national president Lalu Prasad, who is serving sentences in a number of fodder scam cases, is presently lodged at the RIMS hospital in the Jharkhand capital, where he is undergoing treatment for various ailments.
LJP parliamentary board chairman Chirag Paswan said it was "ironical" that senior leaders of the 'Mahagathbandhan' were "making a beeline to meet a person, convicted for corruption".
"Jail ke raaste se sarkaar banana chah rahe hain" (they want to gain power via jail), he said.
He, however, did not mention Lalu Prasad or his party by name.
Paswan made the comments here before leaving for the national capital when he was asked about the opposition combine which comprises, at present, at least six parties and is trying to buttress its prospects through an electoral understanding with Left parties.
The young LJP MP, who is the son of party founder and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, made the comments in the backdrop of recent visits by RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha, HAM president Jitan Ram Manjhi and Sharad Yadav who heads the LJD, to the RIMS hospital at Ranchi.
Paswan also reiterated his stance on contentious issues such as Ram temple and triple talaq, which he had made clear the day before and said "As a BJP ally, I respect their ideological commitment to these issues. But I have a problem with these being made electoral issues."
"For the last four years, nobody heard about Ayodhya. But there seems to be a renewed thrust on playing it up when Lok Sabha polls are just round the corner. I had stated earlier that raising such issues had harmed the BJP in the recent assembly polls and I reiterate the NDA will suffer if we fail to focus on issues like growth, employment and infrastructure," Paswan said.
Meanwhile, BJP national spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain was shown by news channels as having said in Delhi in reaction to Paswans stand "Ram temple has never been an electoral issue for the BJP. It is an issue of faith and we treat it that way. We have never sought to reap electoral benefits by raising the issue."
The BJP-led NDA comprises, in Bihar, LJP and Chief Minister Nitish Kumars JD(U), which is seen on the same page as Ram Vilas Paswans party on issues like Ayodhya and triple talaq.
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