Chirag okays LJP's vote against BJP over data privacy

After demanding a coordination committee of NDA, the LJP has taken it further by voting against the saffron party in a Parliamentary panel meeting on data security after getting the nod from the newly-appointed party chief Chirag Paswan.

LJP's Khagaria MP Mehboob Ali Kaiser voted with Congress and other Opposition parties on Wednesday afternoon to defeat the BJP's plan to stall a discussion on data breach, including the Pegasus episode, in a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology.

Kaiser's vote was crucial for the Opposition as this tied the vote count at 12-12, leaving it to panel Chairman Shashi Tharoor to exercise his casting vote to enable the discussion on 'Citizens' Data Security and Privacy’.

The BJP was insisting that it was not in the ambit of the panel to discuss the issue and wanted to refer the matter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to give his decision on whether it can deliberate on it.

In a cryptic comment, Chirag, who took over the party's mantle from his father and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan recently, said it took just one vote for the government to lose the battle in the Parliamentary panel. Kaiser had contacted Chirag on what stand he should take on the issue of voting, and the party chief gave his nod to oppose the BJP stand.

Chirag said the BJP should not take allies lightly and the LJP was more than willing to support the government if they were taken on board. "This shows the importance of the coordination committee, which we have demanded," he said.

In an NDA meeting last Sunday ahead of the start of Winter Session of Parliament, Chirag had demanded that a coordination committee be formed.

LJP's aggressive stand comes against the backdrop of Shiv Sena deserting the NDA following their relationship souring over government formation in Maharashtra.