Ram Vilas Paswan says NDA intact despite trouble in Maha, Haryana

New Delhi, Oct 8: BJP and its oldest ally Shiv Sena may have parted ways and the Modi wave may have taken a beating in the assembly by-elections but another key

constituent Lok Janshakti Party does not feel that it may be the beginning of the saffron coalition's erosion.

LJP chief and Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan also does not agree with reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was overwhelming in the Cabinet in which ministers had no freedom to function.

He says Lok Sabha elections and assembly polls are different from each other and issues are different. "Modi says he will not target Bal Thackeray. Shiv Sena says it will not attack BJP at the Centre and would be part of the NDA coalition. This sums up the relationship among allies at the Centre," Paswan told PTI analysing the coalition troubles at the state level and downplaying their impact at the national level.

Seeking to soft-pedal the electoral reverses of BJP in recent assembly bypolls in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand and the break up of BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in Maharashtra, he asserted the ruling alliance is intact and there is no bickering among allies.

Paswan: State elections are a different ball game

Giving full credit to Narendra Modi for the victory of the alliance in Lok Sabha polls, Paswan, whose party LJP is an ally of NDA in Bihar, said the state elections are a different ball game where every party has to face the pressure of its cadres and the break-up of NDA alliance in Maharashtra should be seen in this context.

"BJP-Shiv Sena break-up in upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls is not a sign of the NDA alliance collapsing. In Maharashtra, even Congress-NCP could not fight the election together. State elections are a different ball game. Workers of all parties pressure the leadership for tickets. The leaders of parties have to accommodate the maximum," Paswan said.

He was asked whether the internal tussle among allies of NDA has begun too soon as while Shiv Sena parted ways from BJP in Maharashtra, another ally Shiromani Akali Dal is supporting INLD-JD(U) alliance in Haryana.

PTI