LJP-Lalu alliance buzz set off by Paswan's son

Reminiscent of 2014, when Ram Vilas Paswan had switched sides from UPA to NDA ahead of Lok Sabha polls, his son Chirag on Friday set off speculation of a realignment of political forces in Bihar saying he shares the vision of Tejashwi Yadav.

Union minister Paswan, who has been repeatedly calling himself a "cementing force" within NDA, was quick to rule out any truck with RJD ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. He, however, significantly added that Chirag is the chairman of LJP Parliamentary Board and the "future" of the party.

Chirag told a television channel that both he and Lalu's son Tejashwi are young and share a vision. "If it happens one day, there should be no surprise," he said about the possibility of him and Tejashwi coming together sometime in the future.

Months before the 2014 polls, when Lok Janashakti Party had announced the decision to break away from the UPA and join NDA, Paswan had said that the decision was taken by Chirag under pressure from party cadres.

Chirag's remarks incidentally come a day before the two-day meet of Janata Dal United begins in the national capital. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will be interacting with his party workers on Saturday before JDU holds its national executive on July 8.

JDU functionaries rule out any surprise decision at the national executive saying the next course of action would depend on July 12 meeting between BJP chief Amit Shah and Nitish Kumar in Patna.

The talk of formation of a grand alliance of JDU, RJD and Congress is in the air for some time even though Tejashwi and rebel former JDU President Sharad Yadav have vehemently come out against it.

In 2014, when Paswan broke away from UPA, it was Chirag who had said he would not like to do politics with RJD due to corruption taint of Lalu Prasad.

Alliance buzz

But, Paswan's son-in-law Anil Kumar Sadhu joined the RJD in March 2018 only after criticising Paswan.

Senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh created a buzz earlier with his remarks that Paswan was in touch with RJD leaders and that he might join the RJD-led opposition alliance before the LS polls.

Last week Paswan insisted that LJP and JDU headed by Kumar will contest the Lok Sabha polls under NDA alliance but parried questions on whether seat sharing in the 2019 LS polls would be discussed along with contours of the 2020 Assembly polls in Bihar.