BJP-led NDA in Bihar will remain intact: Ram Vilas Paswan

New Delhi: A couple of days after Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s phone call to his ailing erstwhile alliance partner RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav created quite a bit of uneasiness in the NDA, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan did some fire-fighting on Thursday. Mr Paswan said that he had spoken to Mr Kumar and had been told that there was nothing political in the action as the Bihar chief minister had called Mr Yadav four times to enquire about his health.

The BJP-led NDA in Bihar would remain intact and fight the Lok Sabha elections together in the state, Mr Paswan said.

Describing himself as the cementing force in the alliance, the Lok Janashakti Party chief said: “I have spoken to Nitishji. I also spoke to leaders in the BJP. Let me tell you that the NDA is and will remain intact. We are all in the same ship and nobody will like it to sink”.

He said that BJP president Amit Shah would visit the state on July 12 and was expected to meet Kumar, he said. Mr Shah had also met Mr Paswan recently.

Playing down reported differences among the Bihar allies over sharing of seats in the Lok Sabha polls and said it would be sorted out when senior leaders meet.  

He described the RJD as “full of dirt” where nobody would like to go.

Within a year of walking out of the Grand Alliance and joining the NDA, Bihar chief minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar has apparently opened up a channel for negotiation with his erstwhile coalition partners, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress, to return once again to the “secular” fold.