Patna: Irked over not getting tickets for the Lok Sabha elections, 22 leaders of Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) have resigned and decided to support the INDIA bloc. Other grievances and allegations include the distribution of tickets in exchange for money, according to NDTV.
The names include former minister Renu Kushwaha, former MLA and national general secretary of LJP, Satish Kumar, state organisation minister Ravindra Singh, Ajay Kushwaha, Sanjay Singh and State General Secretary Rajesh Dangi.
“Ticket should be given to the party workers instead of people from outside. Tickets were given to the outsiders which means that able people are not there in your party. Are we the labour class people in your party who will work for you, make you a leader? Our devotion was questioned when an outsider was given a ticket. We are not here to serve as labourers for the party,” the report quoted former MP Renu Kushwaha as saying.
“When such important elections are there in the country, the LJP Supremo has given tickets to such people that the party workers are stunned. The people who used to raise slogans ‘Hail Chirag Paswan’, day and night and hoped for a ‘new Bihar’ have been betrayed, their aspirations were crushed. Now, to save the country, INDI alliance has to be supported. Now we will support the INDI alliance,”
The party’s Organisation Secretary Ravindra Singh claimed that Chirag Paswan “sold the tickets”. “Chirag Paswan has played an emotional game with the people of Bihar. When he got five seats due to our hard work, he sold all those tickets. People of Bihar will give him an answer,” he was quoted as saying.
Notably, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) is contesting five out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar – Vaishali, Hajipur, Samastipur, Khagaria and Jamui.
Bihar will see polling in seven phases. The first phase will be held on April 19, the second phase on April 26, the third on May 7, fourth on May 13, fifth on May 20, sixth on May 25, and seventh on June 1.
