Bihar elections: Saffron discards likely to cross over to LJP camp

NEW DELHI: A former Bihar BJP vice-president joined LJP on Tuesday after quitting the saffron outfit. Rajendra Singh will contest from Dinara constituency against JD(U) MLA and minister in Nitish Kumar cabinet, Jai Kumar Singh. LJP is likely to accommodate at least four BJP men in its first list of candidates, which would be released on Wednesday and in subsequent phases more saffron members will find place, sources said.
Singh, who had fought the last elections unsuccessfully from the same seat in 2015, told reporters after meeting LJP chief Chirag Paswan in Delhi, "I can no longer remain with Nitish Kumar." LJP sources said several senior BJP functionaries were in contact with the party members amid indications that saffron ticket-seekers who won't find a place in the final list may knock at LJP's doors.
Party sources said there is no plan to project Chirag as CM candidate since they have announced that LJP will accept any BJP chief minister in the state. A day after iterating that Bihar will get a BJP-LJP government after the polls, Chirag said, "As soon as the new government takes charge, all culprits involved in corruption in the Saat Nishchay (seven promises) scheme will be sent to jail and the remaining amount will be released so that the pending works can be completed."
LJP members defended Chirag's frequent reference to PM Narendra Modi saying, "The PM doesn't belong to a party. He is the PM of the entire country. For us, the PM is a model for development and a thought to make India a developed country. We won't use him, rather we will take his thoughts and vision to people. We are fighting for the pride of Biharis and the PM also wants to give them respect."
Party members maintained that while they will put 143 candidates, their focus will be only against JD(U) and other opposition candidates. “There may be some unavoidable situations where we have to put our candidates where the BJP will also be in the fray. But these will be friendly fights in those seats. As we have maintained we have no problem with the BJP,” said a source.