“If Paras joins the opposition bloc, it will eat into the Dalit votes of the NDA,” said a political analyst. He said the Dalits constitute nearly 19.65 per cent of the state’s population, and Paswans among them constitute about 5.3 per cent. With Paras’ coming into the opposition bloc, the latter will be able to narrow the gap between GA and NDA. In the 2020 assembly elections, the opposition won 110 of the 243 seats, 12 short of the magic number (majority mark) to stake a claim for the formation of the government. Paras at a presser on Monday contended that RLJP would enter into an alliance with the party that would give him respect and a respectable number of seats in the upcoming assembly elections. “We were not given a fair deal while remaining in NDA,” Paras said, adding that his party and its leaders were given a raw deal both in the state and at the centre, the former Union Minister said. On the contrary, the NDA comprising the BJP, JD(U), HAM, and RLM has expressed confidence in the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Its endeavour to win over VIP chief Mukesh Sahani ahead of elections, however, proved futile. Sahani is unhappy with NDA apparently, for causing extensive damage to VIP. VIP currently has no MLA in the 243-member state assembly. It’s lone MLA, Raj Kumar Singh, later joined JD(U) led by Nitish Kumar. Party MLC Nutan Singh also shifted her loyalty and joined BJP.
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