Don't let Ram Temple dominate actual issues ahead of 2019 polls, LJP leader Chirag Paswan lessons ally BJP

Ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Lok Janashakti Party (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan has sent a strong message to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by making it clear that the Ram Temple is an agenda of the BJP and not the NDA. After the debacle of the BJP in the recent Assembly elections in three heartland states, Chirag said that it is time the saffron party goes for a course correction. The LJP leader said that the issue of Ram Temple had dominated the actual issues and mangled the agenda of development on which the saffron party had won in 2014.

Speaking to a private News Channel NDTV, Chirag said that Ram Temple is the agenda of the BJP and they are free to push it. "But when it dominates the rest of the issues that concern the common people -- that we need to rework... Don't push it to an extent where it over-rides all other issues," he said.

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Chirag, son of Ramvilas Paswan, one of the key allies of the BJP in Bihar, said that his party was willing to wait for and accept the judgment of the Supreme Court where the case is still pending. The LJP leader said that his party had made it clear to the bigger ally that their partnership would be based on issues.

Paswan’s party has been at the loggerheads with the BJP over the issue of seat sharing for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Bihar. The BJP has reportedly offered 17 seats to Nitish Kumar’s JD-U and the LJP has got only six seats. Paswan, however, said the alliance was strong and the NDA will win the 2019 polls.

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Last week, Naresh Gujral, a leader of Shiromani Akali Dal, another BJP ally had also warned the saffron party, saying he didn’t see any single political party getting over 200 seats in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He said that the BJP will have to quickly resolve issues with its allies, including the Shiv Sena, if the party wanted to emerge victorious.