Patna, Jan 12: Amid strong signals of an early Lok Sabha poll, dissidence today surfaced in the ruling RJD here with a senior member of the state cabinet Ramai Ram criticising the move by the party leadership to persuade Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Ramvilas Paswan to join the secular alliance. Ram, a strong contender for party ticket to contest from Hajipur, the pocket borough of Paswan, slammed RJD vice-president and its parliamentary party leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh for meeting Paswan last Thursday to woo him to join the broad secular alliance led by the Congress to defeat the BJP-led NDA at the hustings.
“Singh has lowered the prestige of RJD by meeting a person who has no commitment to secularism. Paswan is an incorrigible turncoat and opportunist who has allied with the NDA, the Congress and the third front at one time or the other," he told reporters.
Ram, the minister for revenue and land reforms and a party national general secretary, said he felt slighted for not being taken into confidence on such an important matter.
Asked if he had discussed the issue with RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav, Ram replied with a curt, “No, not yet.” Bureau Report