The Hindu : Other States / Bihar News : LJP dissidents defer announcement on split

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Thursday, May 26, 2005

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LJP dissidents defer announcement on split

Special Correspondent

PATNA: Rebel Lok Jan Shakti Party MLAs have deferred a formal announcement on splitting the party till the first week of June, in the hope that their numbers will swell in the coming days.

The former State unit chief, Narendra Singh, and the former secretary general, Nagmani, who along with some legislators have been expelled from the party, on Wednesday claimed that at least 13 MLAs were with them and that all four legislators, now behind bars, had also pledged their support.

It was clear from the letters written by the four legislators that the move was to merge the group with the Janata Dal (United), though they maintained that the other option was floating a party.

The rebel group was hopeful that some MLAs supporting Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan would come to its fold. The rebels said they would announce the formal split in the first week of June.

Call for CBI probe

While stressing their intention to "expose the conspiracy" of the Congress, Mr. Paswan and the Rashtriya Janata Dal in getting the House dissolved, the dissident LJP leaders also criticised Governor Buta Singh and demanded a CBI probe into allegations that they had been kidnapped and bribed by a political group.

LJP general secretary Suraj Bhan Singh, however, rejected the rebels' claim that 17 out of the 29 party MLAs were with them. He ruled out a split for lack of numbers.

The NDA will hold a rally here on June 25, coinciding with the imposition of Emergency by the Congress regime in 1975, to protest against the Presidential proclamation of the dissolution of the Assembly by the UPA Government.

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LJP dissidents defer announcement on split