Senior Janata Dal (United) leader, Shyam Rajak on Thursday fired warning shots at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying that they have to agree to their terms to keep benefitting from the JD(U) in Bihar.
“It would not be wrong to say that injustice has been done against us. We had asked for Special Status for Bihar. We would like to tell the BJP to take this issue seriously,” Rajak told ANI.
He further stressed on the importance of Nitish Kumar and his party in the state, threatening to not let them (BJP) use Nitish’s image if their demands were not met.
“Nitish Kumar and the JD(U) play a major role in Bihar. We had contested the election on 25 seats. They’ll have to give us 25 seats, no question of any lesser number of seats. If NDA wants to be benefited by Nitish Kumar’s image, they’ll have to do justice to JD(U) and him,” he said.
“The JD(U) is not only a part of the alliance, it is loyal towards its cause. But the signs do not look good, recently the TDP and the Shiv Sena broke with the alliance, problems are emerging in other parties like the PDP as well. It is the BJP’s responsibility to keep everyone happy and keep the alliance intact,” he added.
Further highlighting the lack of Dalit representation in the Supreme Court and various High Courts, he said, “There is reservation in the Judiciary in Bihar. Why can’t it be done for Supreme Court and High Court? It raises suspicions on BJP’s intentions. If they’re dedicated towards Ambedkar and Dalits, they must do justice with Dalits and Bihar and give us respectable partnership to prove it’s a strong alliance.”
Earlier, JD(U) spokesperson Ajay Alok had said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was the face of the NDA in Bihar. He had also clarified that there was no confusion in the party regarding seat sharing and that the JD(U) had always contested on 25 seats.
Sushil Modi had, however, cleared the air of any rift between the two parties, saying that votes in 2019 will be taken on the basis of PM (Narendra) Modi’s name and Nitish Kumar’s work.
