Yet another BJP ally is sulking: this time it is Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan whose Lok Janshakti Party has a strong Dalit and tribal constituency. The party has one big grouse: It wants Justice A K Goel removed as chief of the National Green Tribunal. The retired judge was on the Supreme Court bench that diluted a law meant for protection of Dalits. That, in turn, has earned Goel the wrath the marginalised sections.
A deadline has been set. “If our demand is not met by August 9, then LJP will join Dalit protesters,” said Chirag, Paswan junior. “Our support to the NDA is issue-based,” added the 34-year-old by way of explanation. But he stopped short of threatening to walk out of the NDA, saying that the LJP would not emulate the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). “We will fight for Dalit rights and remain a part of the government. Our patience is running out, hope the PM will act on our demands,” Junior told reporters.
Protecting interests of these communities was at the core of the LJP’s tie up with the BJP in 2014, Chirag told a press conference. Alarm bells are sure to ring in the BJP as the TDP had quit the NDA in March, citing the “unfulfilled promise” of special status for Andhra Pradesh. The seething anger has the BJP and its allies jittery ahead of the 2019 election in states like Bihar where the community constitutes 16 per cent of the votes.