PTI, SHEIKHPURA: The Lok Janshakti Party, a BJP ally in Bihar, on Saturday disapproved of contentious issues like the Ram temple and triple talaq being raised ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and expressed apprehension that deviating from the development plank could harm the NDA.
LJP parliamentary board chairman Chirag Paswan expressed the view at a press conference in the district, which comprises a part of his Lok Sabha seat — Jamui.
“Development should be the poll plank for the NDA, which, I am confident, will help the coalition win more than 35 of the 40 seats in Bihar. I am hopeful that the election will be fought on the issue of development and contentious issues like the Ram temple and triple talaq will be kept at bay. These may harm the coalition’s prospects,” he said.
The young MP, who is the son of Union minister and the LJP’s founding president Ram Vilas Paswan, had expressed similar concerns last month after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost power in three of its strongholds — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Paswan’s statement came at a time when the issue of triple talaq has thrown Parliament into a turmoil and another BJP ally in the state, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), has refused to vote in favour of the bill in the Rajya Sabha after having abstained in the Lok Sabha.
