"Narendra Modi Will Become PM Again," Says Ram Vilas Paswan

Union Minister and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan Tuesday exuded confidence that the NDA will return to power with an "invincible" majority in 2019 Lok Sabha elections and Narendra Modi will be the prime minister again.

Mr Paswan ridiculed the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party (SP-BSP) claim over Prime Ministership and wryly commented that Mayawati's party should first open its account in the Lok Sabha polls.

The one who has the support of most MPs will become the prime minister, Mr Paswan said, adding that the BSP had zero parliamentarians in the Lok Sabha while Akhilesh Yadav's SP only has three to four.

"It is quite a different thing if a person becomes the PM without having any MPs (in Lok Sabha)," the LJP chief told reporters taking a jibe at the SP-BSP alliance.

The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief was reacting to Mayawati asking the SP-BSP workers to forget their differences and ensure victory of all joint candidates in Uttar Pradesh which sends the maximum MPs to Parliament.

"NDA government will be formed at the Centre again with invincible majority and Narendra Modi will be the PM again after 2019 Lok Sabha elections," Mr Paswan said.

The LJP which is an ally partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has been allocated six seats in Bihar in the coming Parliamentary polls.

The remaining 34 seats have been divided equally between BJP and JD(U).

It was also decided that Mr Paswan would get a Rajya Sabha berth from the NDA quota.

The Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, further listed achievements of the NDA government at the centre.

The country's economy has progressed well during the five years of Narendra Modi government. Government''s foreign policy and diplomacy have been quite successful, he said.

From social point of view, the government has taken care of every section of the society, he said, adding that people belonging to scheduled castes, backward class and upper castes have come together on one platform.

He also rebuffed claims that his son and party''s parliamentary board chairman, Chirag Paswan's letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley seeking an explanation on the benefits of demonetisation was due to differences over seat sharing.

Stressing that the NDA had finalised its seat sharing formula, Mr Paswan wondered if the Grand Alliance even had any clarity about its partners.

"They (Grand Alliance) have kept Congress in the alliance in Bihar but the alliance (SP-BSP) in UP has kept Congress out. They (Congress) must have some presence in UP," he said.

Mr Paswan further refused to comment on his alleged "angootha chap" (illiterate) remark on former chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Rabri Devi.

The LJP chief, while addressing a press conference on January 11 here, had attacked the opposition RJD in Bihar for opposing the Narendra Modi government''s bill giving 10 per cent quota to the economically backward sections among general category.

"They believe in merely raising slogans and making an angootha chap (illiterate) the chief minister," Mr Paswan, who was previously an ally of the RJD headed by Lalu Prasad, had said.