Pappu Yadav (second from left) and other alliance leaders in Patna on Monday. (Photo Courtesy Facebook)
Patna: In a bid to outdo the ruling JDU-led NDA and RJD-led Maha Gathbandhan former MP, Pappu Yadav-led Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) on Monday launched a new poll alliance with three other political outfits including Chandrasekhar Azad’s Azad Samaj Party, Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and the Bahujan Mukti Party (BMP) to contest the Bihar Assembly polls.
Addressing a crowded press conference here, the national president of the Jan Adhikar Party, Pappu Yadav, said the alliance has been formed to put an end to the 30-year misrule in the state.
Without mentioning the name of NDA and Mahaghatbandhan, he asserted that “There are two alliances in Bihar, one is casteist and the other is communal. Our coalition is humanitarian. This coalition is about socialism, not politics. We will announce the face of the coalition in the coming days,”
Coming down heavily on the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Yadav said he did nothing to fight the coronavirus pandemic, particularly for migrant workers who were stranded at many places outside the state.
Yadav also blamed Nitish Kumar for failing utterly to extend assistance to helpless Bihari residents in Gujarat and Delhi during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In response to a question, he said Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP, the LJP, and Congress have been invited to join this alliance in the larger interest of the state.
This is not the final coalition. We will come up with a common minimum programme in the next two days. We will welcome everyone who wants to save Bihar. We are ready to welcome Chirag Paswan, Upendra Kushwaha and we are also ready to welcome the Congress,” he added.
Describing Kushwaha’s as his brother, he said the CM always deceived the people who trusted him.
Chandrashekhar Azad also spoke on the occasion saying they came together to dislodge the communal rule from the state. In reply to a question ‘why you always go to Dalit locality only, he said, “We will always be available at places where a fight for justice is going on and atrocities are being done on any section of the society.”
In his remarks, SDPI vice President Sharfuddin Ahmad said the SDPI has joined the Alliance in the larger interest of Bihar which did not see much development in the last 15 years despite Nitish Kumar has been projected as man of development. He also accused the CM of not doing enough to mitigate the plight and suffering of Bihar’s migrant workers during the abrupt lockdown. He also pointed out that the Modi government passed the anti-framers bills with utter disregard of the parliament proceedings and federal structure but the CM is singing the paeans of the Center and supporting the bills.
It its worth mentioning here that Bihar assembly elections will be held in three phases: October 28, and November 3 and 7. The counting of votes will take place on November 10.
Elections will be interesting in the Muslim-dominated seats particularly in Seemanchal belt as the All India Muslim Majles Itehad Muslimeen (AIMIM) has entered into the fray in alliance with former union minister Devandar Yadav’s Samajwadi Janta Dal’.
In the 2015 Assembly polls, JDU, RJD, and Congress had fought the elections together under the Mahagathbandhan banner. On the other hand, the BJP-led NDA had fought the elections with Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and other allies.
After the polls, however, a rift emerged between JDU and the RJD in 2017, leading to Nitish Kumar snapping ties and rejoining the BJP-led NDA to retain power in the state.
RJD with 80 seats had emerged as the single largest party in the elections, followed by JDU (71), and BJP (53) and Congress (27). However, BJP got the largest vote share (24.42 per cent) as it fought 153 seats, followed by RJD with 18.35 per cent and JDU (16.83 per cent).