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| What’s Ram Paswan doing in J&K elections? | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
Jammu, Dec 13: Political waters in Jammu and Kashmir are already troubled. But what are the people like Union Steel and Chemicals Minister Ram Vilas Paswan doing here.
Paswan has already addressed a public meeting in Kashmir; another he addressed in Banihal and is now slated to address a meeting in Jammu on December 21. His Bihar originate party has not been any reckoning in the recently concluded elections in five states but Paswan has his eyes focused on Jammu and Kashmir.
Unfazed by the dismal performance in the recent Assembly elections in five states, LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan tried to woo voters in Jammu and Kashmir by promising a slew of populist measures if voted to power as the party eyed the national status.
"The main problem of Jammu and Kashmir is unemployment and if my party comes to power in the state, we guarantee job to at least one person in each family. Ending unemployment will be our first target," Paswan, who is the Union Minister for Steel, Chemicals and Fertilisers, said after addressing a political meeting.
Party sources say that LJP's strategy of contesting in maximum states aims at securing national status for the party, which has little hold outside Bihar, by acquiring the required vote percentage in at least four states.
The main opposition party in Bihar, RJD led by Lalu Prasad, got the national party status a few months back.
That's the reason the LJP contested a whopping 119 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 87 seats in Rajasthan, 41 seats in Delhi, 38 seats in Mizoram and 28 seats in Chhattisgarh despite the fact that it did not have the "winning capacity" in any of these states.
LJP could win just one seat in Delhi, while it could not open its account in four states-- Mizoram, Rajasthan Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
To get a national status, a party must get two per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha--11 seats from three states-- or six per cent of votes in four states plus four MPs.
More than the number of seats that it wins, the LJP is concerned with the percentage of votes, party sources said.
Paswan said "unemployment" was the "main problem" of Jammu and Kashmir and promised an immediate end to it if the party comes back to power there.
"If my party comes to power here, we will deposit a sum of Rs 25 thousand at the time of the birth of every girl child in the state, which will be given with the accumulated interest to her family members at the time of her marriage," the union minister said, whose party is contesting 27 seats of the total 87 seats in the state.
Paswan said LJP was serious about bringing prosperity to the state. "We aim at connecting minorities in the whole country with the mainstream and the party will make serious efforts in this direction particularly in this state, he added. Paswan will be visiting the state again on December 21 for the final leg of campaigning.
The LJP leader claimed that the party, which has no members in the current J-K Assembly, is in a position to win a few seats in Jammu and Kashmir. The LJP has four MPs in Lok Sabha. |
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