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BJP not surprised by Paswan's resignation

Lok Jan Shakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan's resignation from the Union Cabinet on the Gujarat issue is the direct result of his growing proximity to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav, a top RJD leader told rediff.com.

Paswan had been in constant touch with Laloo Yadav for the last four weeks and the duo had discussed the strategy their parties would adopt during the censure motion on Gujarat.

"It is possible that Paswan will come over to our side," the RJD leader said.

Oddly, BJP leaders maintained that Paswan's resignation, his breaking away from the National Democratic Alliance and his decision to vote in favour of the censure motion came as no surprise.

"Paswan's ties with the BJP have been strained ever since the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections when his party candidates spoilt the prospects of our candidates," senior BJP leader Jagdish Prasad Mathur said.

"Now that Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati has successfully concluded a deal with us to form a coalition government in UP, Paswan is like a fish out of water."

He has no role to play in UP now as the Dalits have chosen to back the BSP.

"But it has to be seen if all four LJSP MPs will support his decision to break away from the NDA," Mathur said.

BJP workers at the party's Ashoka Road headquarters maintained that the party leadership was in touch with at least two LJSP MPs, which was why Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had decided to let Paswan go.

They also claimed that Paswan was also apprehensive of being dropped from the Union Cabinet.

They maintained that the Vajpayee government would defeat the censure motion on Gujarat because 'the NDA constituents know that there is no alternative in sight'.

They referred to the ongoing friction between the Congress and the Samjwadi Party over government formation in UP and asserted that 'opposition unity simply does not exist'.

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