Lalu, Paswan plan to get even with Mulayam

BOTH RASHTRIYA Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ramvilas Paswan plan to give Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav a taste of his own medicine.

They will resort to the same strategy in UP that he adopted against them in the Bihar Vidhan Sabha election.

Lalu and Paswan plan to field candidates in the maximum number of constituencies to cut into the SP’s vote bank during the UP assembly election.
“If our game plan works, Mulayam will meet the same fate as Lalu did in Bihar,” said a RJD leader.  

Unmindful of the fact that it had no base in Bihar, the SP had fielded candidates in over 100 constituencies. Though only two SP candidates won, the others ate into the votes of the RJD and the LJP. Agitated over the division of the secular vote, Lalu called Mulayam a vote ‘katwa’.

While the RJD lost power to the JD (U)-BJP combine, the LJP, too, suffered a humiliation with a sharp fall in its share of seats. With assembly election in Uttar Pradesh not too far away, both Lalu and Paswan have stepped up their political activities in the State.

Their mission is the same: to damage the SP’s prospects in the coming Vidhan Sabha election. Though the RJD and the LJP are part of the United Progressive Alliance at the Centre, they are archrivals in Bihar. To checkmate Mulayam on his home turf, both the leaders have decided to join hands under the banner of the VP Singh-led Jan Morcha in Uttar Pradesh.  

To motivate his supporters and to woo traditional SP voters, Paswan has already launched Muslim-Dalit rallies in various parts of the state.  Buoyed by the success, the LJP plans to launch the second phase in June.

State LJP leaders said, “We will expose the wrongdoings of the SP Government in the rallies and street corner meetings to be held in various districts.”

The LJP is planning to field its candidates in about 100 constituencies. The Central leadership would take a final decision on the issue, they said.

On the other hand, the RJD will organise public meetings at the divisional and the district headquarters from June. Lalu, along with ministers of his party at the Centre, will address these meetings.

An RJD leader said, “We had planned a rath yatra across the State, but now we have decided to hold public meetings and workers’ conferences in each district.”
The RJD will also launch a membership drive before the assembly polls.