Bihar elections: LJP turns 'shelter home' for rebels

The political scenario in Bihar is becoming more interesting by the day. The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) seems to have become a 'shelter home' for those who have turned rebels in other parties over denial of tickets.

The LJP, which is part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre, has emerged as a favoured option for the rebels in the NDA. Senior BJP leader Usha Vidyarthi joined the LJP on Wednesday. She has earlier been the Vice President of the Bihar BJP and also a State Minister.

After joining the LJP, she said that she was impressed with Chirag's stand against Nitish and to take Bihar forward there was a need to take hard decisions. She said that 'Bihar First, Bihari First' is an idea whose time has come. Earlier on Tuesday, veteran BJP leader Rajendra Singh joined the LJP. According to sources, he will contest the Assembly elections from Dinara. The JD-U has given the ticket to its minister Jayakumar Singh from Dinara.It is said that Rameshwar Chaurasia, a senior BJP leader and MLA from Nokha, and Jawahar Prasad, a five-time BJP MLA from Sasaram, are also angry with the party. Sources say that the LJP is in touch with these two.

Sources reveal that many leaders are in touch with the LJP, including BJP leader Ram Sanjeevan Singh of Bhojpur, Devesh Sharma of Jehanabad, Ramavatar Singh of Gaya, R.S. Singh, former JD-U vice-president of Aurangabad district and Kapil Dev Singh, former JD-U vice-president of Khagaria. A LJP leader said, "Party President Chirag Paswan is in contact with dozens of veteran leaders from the BJP, JD-U and RJD who are ready to contest elections. The party is giving priority to leaders with a strong voter base. Chirag will soon announce the list of the first phase candidates." Sanjay Saraf, a senior LJP leader and a member of the party's media panel, told IANS that if anyone joins the party, is there any harm in it? He said that many ministers of the BJP and the JD-U are in touch with the party. In response to a question, he said, "The LJP has prepared a list of candidates for 143 seats, but out of the leaders who have recently joined the party, only those who are heavyweights or have a strong voter base, will be given a ticket after holding discussions with the party workers. Workers will not be ignored in candidate selection."