The Hindu : Project Sonia as PM candidate: Paswan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 23, 2004

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Project Sonia as PM candidate: Paswan

By K. Balchand

PATNA, FEB. 22 . To provide a stable alternative to the National Democratic Alliance at the Centre, the Lok Janshakti Party chief, Ramvilas Paswan, today advocated that the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, should be the Prime Ministerial candidate of the secular combine.

Talking to newspersons, Mr. Paswan maintained that the Congress party had to lead the combine and that responsibility should not be vested with any minor party. He reasoned that the NDA survived five years in office merely because the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, belonged to the biggest constituent of the alliance.

The LJP president said that he would campaign for the Congress both in Bihar and across the country provided it was not engaged in a friendly fight with any of the other "secular" parties. He said that he would campaign for any secular party in direct contest with the BJP and its allies.

He, however, did not rule out the possibility of his party entering into a friendly contest in some of the constituencies across the State, though he would avoid the same in Bihar, where the stress would be on a one-to- one fight with the BJP and its allies.

Mr. Paswan said that his party would contest 12 seats in Bihar, 10 in Uttar Pradesh, six in Madhya Pradesh, two in Rajasthan and one each in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The parliamentary board would take a final decision on the number of seats the party would contest in the country.

While he declined to identify the 12 seats his party intended to contest in Bihar, Mr. Paswan said that it would be better that talks for seat adjustments be taken up forthwith and the matter settled so as to kick start the campaign. The LJP secretary general, Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, maintained that it was for the Congress to take the lead for talks in all the States where it is the senior party.

Mr. Yadav also cautioned Mrs. Gandhi of the Bahujan Samaj Party, though without naming it, and urged her to acknowledge the strength of Mr. Paswan. There are some who are riding on two boats -- secular and communal --- in a bid to increase their bargaining power.

Mr. Paswan maintained that he would go it alone in Jharkhand to experiment with his new combination of Dalits, Muslims and Christians. There are more than 14 per cent Scheduled Caste voters, while the minorities account for 22 percent and the Christians about 10 per cent.

He also had the new entrant Suraj Bhan Singh, Independent MLA from Mokama, with him and hinted that he would play a crucial role in deciding the outcome of the Barh Lok Sabha constituency, which is represented by the Railway Minister, Nitish Kumar.

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