Former Union minister in the NDA Government and Lok Janashakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan scoffs at BJP leaders who claimed that talks of an alliance failed between the parties because of his ‘‘hard bargaining.’’Paswan dismisses the charge saying: ‘‘In the last couple of weeks I have been travelling. Meeting friends to put together a secular, democratic alliance against the NDA. I have been to Tamil Nadu to meet DMK leader Karunanidhi, took permission to meet PMK leader Vaiko who is in jail, to firm up the secular alliance.’’ ‘‘So where is the question of aligning with NDA?’’ he asks.Bihar state BJP leaders had stated yesterday, that talks failed between the two on seat sharing because ‘‘Paswan demanded more than the two seats the BJP was offering him.’’ Paswan lashed out at this, ‘‘I left the NDA because it refused to take any action on the Gujarat riots and I have made my stand clear there will never be a question of aligning with the communal BJP again. These statements are baseless.’’Sources say Paswan is in the midst of seat-sharing talks with RJD and the Congress. Laloo Prasad Yadav, who has jumped up to take the lead in hammering a non-NDA coalition, which includes the Congress, would welcome Paswan back. It would give the RJD a chance once again — in the last LS poll, it was a coalition of parties against Yadav, which lead to his trounce, winning barely four seats.Today, if Paswan returns, with the NCP, the JD (U) faction and Samata Party, Yadav has a fighting chance all over again. Like Kalyan Singh in UP, Paswan holds the key in Bihar, as he represents the crucial votes of his community, Paswans, for electoral victory in at least half of the 50 parliamentary constituencies.
