The BJP eventually netting Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party in Bihar as a junior ally (after losing Nitish Kumar’s JD-U last year) on Thursday does two things: It reinforces scepticism regarding the ideological and political sturdiness of India’s regional parties, and it leaves an election-eve message for the Congress that the party should be wary of taking its erstwhile allies for granted.
For Mr Paswan, reaching a deal with the BJP with Narendra Modi in the driver’s seat should be a matter of some mortification. This leader of a section of Bihar’s dalit community had walked out of the Atal Behari Vajpayee Cabinet after the communal violence on Mr Modi’s watch in Gujarat in 2002 and boosted his “secular” credentials. Going back, cap in hand, is nothing short of eating crow. But how much gain would accrue to either side is a question mark.
The BJP has had to cede seven out of the 40 seats in the state to LJP. This casts doubts on the party’s ability to win 20 seats, its objective after the break with the JD(U), as it is contesting too few seats. As for the LJP, it is to be seen if it can make its presence felt in as many as seven Lok Sabha seats. It doesn’t have even one now and has so few Assembly seats that they can be counted on the fingers of one hand. With the RJD, Congress and JD(U) around, the LJP bringing minority votes to NDA’s kitty is a long shot.
