Patna, Oct 15 (PTI) Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal on Tuesday claimed that the NDA will win all the four assembly seats of the state for which by-polls will be held next month.
By-elections are scheduled for Ramgarh, Tarari, Imamganj and Belaganj seats, all of which fell vacant earlier this year with the respective MLAs getting elected to the Lok Sabha.
Talking to reporters, Jaiswal said, “We are confident of the NDA putting up a strong show. We will retain Imamganj which was held by our ally and Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi. We will also win the remaining four seats.” Replying to another query, Jaiswal, who is also a minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet, said, “All NDA constituents have agreed upon seat-sharing for the by-polls and the assembly elections in the neighbouring Jharkhand. Details will be shared in due course.” Notably, the BJP’s allies in Bihar include the JD(U) headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Union Minister Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha, besides Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha.
Jaiswal also took a swipe at RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who is scheduled to undertake a “yatra” from Wednesday during which he would interact with party workers in a number of districts.
“Despite being the leader of the opposition (in state assembly) he was nowhere to be seen when north Bihar was reeling under floods. The Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi spoke ill of the country on foreign soil. The people punished the INDIA bloc in the Haryana assembly polls. The opposition coalition will meet a similar fate in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and all other places where by-polls are due,” he said.
He, however, flinched when asked about the proposed “Hindu Swabhiman Yatra” of Union minister Giriraj Singh, which has evoked criticism from the opposition and caused the JD(U) to express concerns about communal tensions.
“I don’t know about any such yatra. The BJP is a party that believes in sabka saath sabka vikas,” he replied evasively to pointed queries about the proposed tour that is likely to commence on October 18 from Bhagalpur.
Asked whether he agreed with Singh’s contention that Hindus were “under threat” from the minorities, especially Muslims, Jaiswal shot back, “Let us not get into discussions that may be detrimental to national unity and integrity.” PTI NAC SOM
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