"No Role": Nitish Kumar Rubbishes Allegations Of Engineering LJP Split

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said Chirag Paswan and his Lok Janshakti Party say "something about us just to get publicity... we have no role"

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today brushed off Chirag Paswan's accusation that his Janata Dal United was at the bottom of the split in the Lok Janshakti Party -- something the Paswan Junior has been alleging for days.  "No role... There is nothing like that. There is no role. It is a matter that concerns them. They say something about us just to get publicity... we have no role," the Chief Minister told reporters today. Mr Paswan -- locked in a battle with his uncle Pashupati Paras over the control of the Lok Janshakti Party founded by his father -- has also accused Nitish Kumar of trying to break up the party by dividing the votes of the Paswan community, who have been the core supporters of his party. "If you see the political journey it is clear... he has been splitting the Lok Janshakti Party since February 2005, when 27 were elected on our ticket," he told NDTV.com. The JD(U), he even said earlier, was working to split the party even when Ramvilas Paswan was hospitalised last year, and alleged that a conspiracy was hatched recently behind his back when he was ill. His denial, though, failed to convince Chirag Paswan's supporters, who said that the Chief Minister's close aide Lalan Singh, who is also the leader of the Parliamentary Party, Maheshwar Hazari, Deputy Speaker of Bihar Assembly and Sanjay Singh were present at the meetings or Paras camp in Delhi. Photos and videos of them are in in public domain, the Paswan camp claimed.