Patna: The LJP (Ram Vilas) supremo Chirag Paswan on Monday announced that his party will contest the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly poll even as he slammed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and demanded the imposition of President's Rule in the state.
The decision was taken during the LJPR national executive committee meeting held at Constitution Club in New Delhi. Chirag, however, did not announce the number of seats the party would be contesting in both states where elections are scheduled later this year.
Party has authorised Chirag to take the final call on the number of seats LJPR would be contesting. Several resolutions were passed during the meeting in which one of the important resolutions was the Bharat Ratna to iconic Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan.
A resolution demanding that the Centre impose President's Rule in Bihar was "unanimously" passed at the national executive meeting of the LJP (Ram Vilas) here, its president Chirag Paswan told a press conference.
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"Bihar and Biharis have suffered a lot due to the personal ambitions and wrong policies of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. As a result, crime and corruption are at their peak in the state," Paswan read out from the resolution passed at the national executive meeting of his party.
"Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) passes this resolution and demands that the Centre dismiss the Bihar government and impose President's Rule in the state," he said. Replying to questions, Paswan said his party has decided not to field candidates in the upcoming bypolls to the Mokama and Gopalganj Assembly seats in Bihar.
However, he clarified that the decision should not be seen as lending support to the RJD-led "Mahagathbandhan" (Grand alliance) in the state.
"There should not be any confusion over it. I have always opposed the policies of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. I and my party will not support any alliance of which Nitish Kumar is a part," Paswan said when asked if his party is supporting the ruling alliance led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in the November 3 bypolls.
While 11 candidates have filed their nominations for the Gopalganj seat, seven have submitted papers to contest the Mokama bypoll. The bypolls were necessitated by the death of Subhash Singh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Gopalganj, and disqualification of RJD's Anant Singh, who represented Mokama in the Assembly.
