Patna, Oct. 12: Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan today termed senior BJP leader L.K. Advani’s rath yatra as “confused and directionless”. The LJP chief demanded a probe into the “misuse of public money” by the state government on the yatra.
“We demand a probe into the lavish spending by the state government on Advani’s yatra. We should remember that he is not the Prime Minister but a senior leader of a party. It was a government show and that is why we want to know from where the funds are coming and who is funding the yatra. There is no doubt that there is a gross misuse of public money,” Paswan told reporters here at the party’s state headquarters here today.
On whether Advani’s yatra is intended for a mid-term poll, the former Union minister said: “Advani’s rath yatra is confused and directionless. No one knows what he wants to achieve from this yatra. He might be aiming for the Prime Minister’s post or he may intend to incite communal passion or he could be belittling (Gujarat chief minister) Narendra Modi.”
On why the BJP leader did not start his yatra from Karnataka or Uttarakhand, where two BJP chief ministers had to resign on corruption charges, Paswan suggested Advani to come out with white paper on corruption in Bihar where the NDA government has been embroiled in umpteen number of cases such as AC DC bills, excise scam and Biada.
On the question of Lokpal, the LJP chief said he was of the firm view that there must be a strong Lokpal for which his party would also give its suggestions or its version of Lokpal before the Parliament’s standing committee meeting, which is slated to be held on October 13 and 14.
Stating that social activist Anna Hazare’s campaign is aimed at benefiting the RSS and the BJP in the country, Paswan, a Rajya Sabha member, said: “Former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde has voiced his opposition to Hazare’s appeal not to vote for Congress in the Hisar by-poll. There is no Anna factor at all in the Hisar elections.”
In response to a query, Paswan said the Centre must disclose the names of those who have stashed black money in Swiss banks.
The LJP chief claimed that the RJD-LJP candidate would emerge victorious in Doranda by-poll and demanded that the Election Commission should ensure free and fair polls in Doranda and also take care of the EVMs, “which might be tampered with”.
Paswan, who accused the Nitish government of neglecting Hajipur’s development, said he along with his supporters would stage a daylong protest at Akshaywat Stadium on October 14 in support of the demands.
