Sahani shouldn’thave praised Lalu,Tejashwi: VIP MLA

Patna: Sharp differences within the legislature group of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), an NDA constituent, surfaced on Saturday over the new political line adopted by the party’s chief Mukesh

Sahani

and his “fondness” for RJD national president Lalu Prasad and his son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. “It is not proper for our national president to show his desire for proximity with the RJD and Lalu Prasad, when our party is still an NDA constituent and he is also a minister in the government led by CM Nitish Kumar,” VIP MLA from Sahebganj in Muzaffarpur district Raju Kumar Singh told this newspaper on Saturday.“We have been hurt by the new political line that Sahani has adopted. It is affecting our own image and also of the party,” Singh said, adding it was the message and feeling of the legislature group that he wanted to give to Sahani. He said the VIP legislature party is not on the verge of split.While the BJP had given 11 seats to the VIP to contest during the 2020 assembly elections, its four candidates won – late Musafir Paswan (Bochaha), Raju Kumar Singh (Sahebganj), Mishri Lal Yadav (Alinagar) and

Swarna Singh

(Gaura Bauram). Paswan died recently, and, therefore, the byelection to the Bochaha seat is awaited.“We are a product of the anti-Lalu and anti-RJD line that emerged in the state in the 1990s, when people of the state started opposing the jungle raj that marked their rule,” he said.Singh added he has sought an appointment with Sahani for discussions on this and other aspects, including the party’s decision to contest the assembly elections in UP. He said the VIP legislature group in the assembly has been wracked by the recent decisions of Sahani. “We will take our next course of action only after talks with him,” the VIP legislator said.