The Hindu : Q & A : Ram Vilas Paswan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 01, 2004

National

National - Elections 2004

Q & A : Ram Vilas Paswan

'We'll bowl them out for zero'

The Lok Janshakti Party president, Ram Vilas Paswan, has now joined forces with the Congress and the RJD. He tells K. Balchand in an interview that his fight, at the national level is against the NDA and in Bihar against Nitish Kuma. Excerpts:

It must have been quite an experience joining hands with Laloo Prasad Yadav after a long time and the Congress for the first time.

I joined forces with the Congress soon after quitting the NDA. I even pleaded with the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, to form the Secular Democratic Alliance but in vain. But now the relation covers a wider spectrum.

Your earlier efforts yielded little.

Even now the alliance is on a State-wise basis.

What about the relations with Laloo Prasad Yadav?

OK. I've always maintained that if in politics you nurture personal differences then meeting of hearts become a difficult proposition. I had nothing personal against him. But differences of opinion could be bridged for [the sake of] greater issues gripping the country, particularly on issues of secularism and communalism. When secular forces are uniting in the country, in those circumstances my distancing from it would amount to limiting my efforts to theoretical talks only.

Should all secular forces come on the same platform in Uttar Pradesh then the Bharatiya Janata Party will not even [be able to] open its account; even the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee's victory will become doubtful.

Last time you had contested the elections with the BJP and the Samata Party. Now you will be fighting against them. Have the equations changed?

The BJP and the Samata don't count in Hajipur. There are only two factors there — the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Lok Janshakti Party. Only these two parties have the capacity to transfer votes in Bihar. I also enjoy the support of other communities. This time I'm not fighting just to win the seat but to break the record.

What difference will you make to the electoral outcome in the State having changed sides?

Mr. Yadav polled four percentage points less last time. My joining hands with him means an addition of 14 to 15 per cent to the kitty. There will be a swing of eight to nine per cent votes in favour of our alliance.

The general impression is that you nurse a grudge against the Railway Minister, Nitish Kumar. Is it true?

Yes. In Bihar, policies and programmes matter to me but I've trained my guns on him as he had neglected my constituency, Hajipur, ignoring the Railway Zone I created and sought to undo all my achievements. He even sacked the 129 youth I had appointed, not sparing even physically challenged ones, including a woman, Malti Devi, from Khagaria. He indulged in inhumane actions, playing with the lives of young ones. This when he was facing charges of appointing as chairman of the Railway Board a person of dubious virtue. He set up the Hajipur Zonal Office after I quit the NDA.

How effective will your alliance with Mr. Yadav be in putting it across the BJP and the JD (U) in Bihar?

We'll bowl them out for zero. We might lose only those seats where we fail to put up the right candidate.

It is now a combination of Dalits, backward castes and minorities and the attitude of the "upper castes" is not inimical. They are not allergic to the LJP and much will depend on the candidate also.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National