Paswan raps Congress, BJP for indulging in vote bank politics

Lok Janshakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan accused Congress and BJP of using Muslims and Hindus as their vote banks and asked people in the poll-bound Himachal Pradesh to be wary of both these parties.

Nahan: Lok Janshakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan on Wednesday accused Congress and BJP of using Muslims and Hindus as their vote banks and asked people in the poll-bound Himachal Pradesh to be wary of both these parties. "Congress and BJP are using Muslims and Hindus to replenish their vote banks and once in power, they hardly do anything for their welfare," he said playing the Dalit and Muslim card at an election meeting in support of LJP candidate Sadanand Chauhan. Referring to various corruption cases raging in the country, he said this was because political parties have ceased to work for welfare of the common man. "What is happening today, my seniors and juniors in politics, have landed in jail on charges of corruption," he said, maintaining that his tenure as a minister at the Centre was unblemished.

"Political parties are hardly bothered about uplift of the poor and down-trodden," he rued. He said that the intentions and principles of Congress and BJP did not augur well for them. Paswan said during his tenure as Railway minister in 1996-98, he had proposed a rail link between Shimla and Dehra Doon via Nahan but the state government had not shown any interest. A steel plant was sanctioned for the state but it did not make any headway as the government refused to supply adequate power, he said. He attributed the rise in militancy in Kashmir Valley to increasing unemployment in neighbouring Jammu and Kashmir. "Despite opposition from several quarters, I initiated a proposal to construct 200 tunnels to link Delhi with the Valley and strongly feel that if rail services are started between Delhi and Kashmir Valley, militancy would be eliminated automatically," he claimed. PTI