Rhetoric Fly at Paswan's Sankalp Rally
Patna: Nov. 28, 2007
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Paswan's Sankalp Rally
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Photo by Shashi Uttam |
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Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, during his 'Sankalp Rally' in Patna on Wednesday continued his drumbeat against the Nitish government in Bihar making it known that now his main political goal was to bring down the NDA government and he was the only legitimate heir to the Chief Minister's throne in the state.
"Nitish Kumar has failed miserably. He failed to keep his electoral promises and the people of Bihar feel cheated by this administration. While Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav aided in the destruction of Bihar, Nitish Kumar defrauded the people," Paswan, who was flanked by his wife Reena Paswan and his son Chirag from both sides, said.
The Union Minister, who was touted as the future Prime Minister of India, once again talked about providing reservation to the impoverished section of the upper caste community but at the same time condemned politics based on caste or religion.
The party's talking point, besides bashing Lalu and Nitish, however, was clearly to rehabilitate the image of Surajbhan Singh, the LJP leader whose name is not unfamiliar in the underworld or the law-enforcement circles.
"Surajbhan has been a victim of a a widespread conspiracy hatched by his political opponents. He has been wrongly accused in the murder of the Additional Public Prosecutor in Begusarai but the truth will soon come out and not only he would be exonerated; the real culprits would be found, exposed, and brought to justice," Paswan said.
In the same breath, the LJP president declared the Janata Dal (U) leaders Anand Mohan, Lovely Anand, and Munna Shukla as criminals. "These people left me and joined Nitish's party. Now some are serving life terms while others are on the death rows," he said.
"Pappu Yadav also abandoned me and now he is languishing in Tihar Jail," Paswan said.
Talking about his decision to join hands with the RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav during the formation of the UPA government at the Center, the LJP leader said that he did so only under pressure from the Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
"Lalu Prasad betrayed me from the days of contesting election to the day he became the Railway Minister. I want you to know that from now on the LJP would contest both state and national elections on its own. We are not going to ask anyone or knock anyone's door during the time of any election," Paswan declared.
Other leaders who took the opportunity to bash the current NDA government or the previous Lalu-Rabri regime included Paswan's siblings Pashupati Kumar Paras and Ramchandra Paswan, Dr. Ranjan Yadav, Dr. Arun Kumar, Balwant Singh Ramuwalia, Sanjay Paswan, Surajbhan, Nagina Devi, Dr. Izahar Ahmed, and a number of other LJP leaders.
The leaders claimed more than a lakh people showing up at Gandhi Maidan for the LJP rally though officials put the number at 50-60,000.
Meanwhile, the traffic in Patna, as expected, came to a grinding halt. All major roads remained blocked for most of the days. After the rally, most non-Patna'ites hit the movie theaters, Patna Zoo, Planetarium, Museum and other attractions in the state capital.
While private schools were announced closed in advance, attendance at all public schools remained sparse due to terrible traffic situation.
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