RLSP dares JD(U) to reveal number of Lok Sabha seats offered by BJP

PATNA: Upendra Kushwaha-led Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) on Friday accused JD(U) of creating unnecessary confusion among the NDA partners in Bihar by issuing “inconsistent” statements over seat-sharing for upcoming Lok Sabha election.

The party also dared the JD(U) leadership to reveal the exact number of Lok Sabha seats it has been offered by the BJP, if it has really worked out a seat sharing formula with the saffron party.

“The BJP, despite being the largest partner, has so far not issued any official statement on seat sharing among the NDA partners in Bihar. The saffron party has so far not fixed a date for holding a formal meeting with all NDA partners to discuss the seat sharing issues. Still, the JD(U) leadership is claiming they have reached an “honourable agreement” with the BJP,” RLSP national general secretary Madhaw Anand told TOI on Friday.

He said the JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, while addressing his party’s state executive body meeting in Patna recently, claimed that he had worked out seat-sharing formula with the BJP and got a ‘respectable share’.

“If Nitish Kumar has really worked out seat-sharing with BJP, why is he not revealing the number of seats offered to the JD(U)?” Madhaw asked.

He said all confusions about the seat sharing were being created by “inconsistent” statements of the JD(U) leaders.

“Even before the beginning of informal talks over the seat-sharing, JD(U) leaders tried to create undue pressure over the BJP by saying that the JD(U) should be treated as ‘big brother’ and must be given more seats that the saffron party in Bihar. Later the JD(U) leaders began demanding that they should be given seats equal to the BJP,” Madhaw, who is also the RLSP’s national spokesperson, pointed out.

He further pointed out that the JD(U) leaders created another confusion a few days after Nitish Kumar’s meeting with BJP chief Amit Shah in Patna on July 12. Then, they claimed that seat-sharing among the NDA partners would be worked out in next four weeks. The ‘four-weeks’ deadline expired without any positive response from the BJP. A couple of week later, the JD(U)’s Bihar unit president Bashishtha Narain Singh claimed that the seat-sharing among the NDA partners would be finalised by the second week of September. Their second deadline also expired without any proper response from the BJP, Madhaw said.

He said the JD(U)’s over-enthusiasm on the issue of seat sharing was not good for ‘alliance-dharma.’

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