‘He sold tickets’: 22 leaders quit Chirag Paswan’s party, say they will back INDIA bloc
LJP was given 5 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar’s NDA alliance, while the BJP and JD(U) will contest 17 and 16 seats respectively. The remaining 2 seats will be contested by HAM and RLSP
The Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) has seen a churn just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls with 22 of its leaders quitting the party in protest against being denied tickets to contest and accusing Chirag of “selling” the Lok Sabha tickets, according to reports in the media.
In a major blow to the NDA ally in Bihar, former minister Renu Kushwaha, the party’s national general secretary and former MLA Satish Kumar, state general secretary Rajesh Dangi, state organization secretary Ravindra Singh, and party leaders Sanjay Singh and Ajay Kushwaha were among those who resigned from the party.
Renu Kushwaha reportedly slammed Chirag Paswan for denying hardworking and competent party workers a chance to stand for elections and instead giving tickets to “outsiders”.
“Tickets should be given to party workers instead of people from outside. Tickets were given to outsiders which meant that hardworking and competent people were not getting their due. Are we labourers that we will work for you and make you a leader?” questioned Renu Kushwaha.
Satish Kumar is said to have accused Chirag of betraying the people of Bihar and said the rebel LJP leaders would support the INDIA alliance in the Lok Sabha polls.
“When important elections are going to be held in the country, the LJP chief has given tickets to such people that the party workers are stunned. Chirag has betrayed the people who used to raise slogans like “Hail Chirag Paswan”. He has crushed their aspirations for a new Bihar. We will now support the INDIA alliance to save the country,” said the LJP national general secretary Satish Kumar.
After the BJP concluded its seat-sharing talks in Bihar on March 18, LJP was given 5 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state – Samastipur, Jamui, Hajipur, Vaishali, and Khagaria.
The BJP will contest 17 seats and the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) has been given 16 seats. The remaining 2 seats will be contested by the Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustani Awaam Morcha (HAM) and Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP).
In the 2019 general elections, the NDA won 39 out of the 40 seats in Bihar.
