Expelled LJP general secretary Keshav Singh (centre). Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Aug. 22: The Ram Vilas Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) faced a rebellion of sorts when around 25 office-bearers resigned from the primary membership of the party today to protest its pre-poll alliance with RJD.

Led by suspended party leader and former general secretary of the LJP state unit Keshav Singh, these leaders, including LJP national secretary Ajay Yadav and national general secretaries of the LJP youth wing Ajay Kumar and Pankaj Singh, resolved to hold talks with like-minded parties like JD(U), Congress, BSP and former MP Devendra Yadav’s newly-floated SJP(D) for seeking tickets for the former LJP members who have fallen out with Ram Vilas Paswan.

It was Keshav, who was close to LJP state president Pashupati Kumar Paras, who first raised voice against the LJP leadership when the party entered into an alliance with the RJD for the ensuing Assembly election. Surprised by his statements against the party leadership, the LJP top brass suspended him from the party for six years on August 16.

These leaders accused Paswan of promoting family rule in the party and also claimed that his alliance with the RJD was nothing but a marriage of convenience.

“People saw the result of this alliance in the general elections and the same is about to be repeated in the Assembly polls as well,” said Ajay Yadav before adding that party workers wanted LJP to enter into an alliance with the Congress but Paswan did not pay heed to such advice which led to this situation.

Emboldened by the response for Sunday’s meeting, Keshav claimed that more LJP office-bearers were willing to join hands with him, the results of which would be public in a few days.

“As many as eight district units of LJP are with us and their members would soon resign from the membership of the party,” Keshav claimed.

Terming the moderate turnout of LJP leaders and workers for Sunday’s meeting as a “strategic move”, he claimed that we had invited a limited number of people only and things would unfold at a larger level in the days to come. He also claimed that LJP had already finalised names for many Assembly seats and preference was given to relatives of MPs and MLCs, ignoring party workers who had played important role in mobilising support for the party in the past.

Refuting Keshav’s claims, LJP media in-charge Lallan Kumar claimed that no final decision had been taken as far as selecting candidates for the 75 Assembly seats the LJP would fight from according to the seat-sharing agreement with the RJD. He also played down the issue of rebellion in the LJP claiming that such things keep on happening at the time of elections.