Thursday, May 26 2005 20:50 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: After his futile efforts to have a Muslim as Chief Minister of Bihar, LJP (Lok Janshakti Party) chief Ramvilas Paswan today (May 26, 2005) appointed Ghulam Rasool Baliyavi as the chief of the party's State unit ahead of Assembly polls and ruled out any truck with BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party)-led NDA (National Democratic Alliance) in the elections.

Paswan also said his party favoured fighting the coming polls on anti-NDA and anti-RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) plank but a decision on whether to have electoral alliance with RJD would be taken at a meeting of LJP (Lok Janshakti Party) national executive before the polls.

As chief of State LJP unit, Ghulam Rasool Baliyavi replaces Narendra Singh who was expelled from the party after he had joined the ranks of rebels to try and prop up a NDA-led Government.

"We have decided not to have any truck with NDA in the coming Assembly elections in Bihar," LJP chief and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan told reporters and alleged the BJP-led alliance had tried to split his party and indulge in the "worst kind of horse-trading."

Parrying questions about likely realignment of forces before the polls, he said his priority now was to strengthen the organisation in Bihar and consolidate the Dalit-Muslim vote bank.

Asked to comment on senior RJD leader and Union Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh's allegation that rebel LJP MLAs were offered by the NDA Rs 3 crore each and ministerial berths and promised that their wives would be made members of the State Legislative Council, Paswan said he too was of the same view.

On whether he would demand a probe into the attempts to break his party, the LJP leader said he knew about the game plan but did not reveal it earlier to prevent dissolution of the Assembly.

Paswan said he favoured polls only after the monsoon, which is around November, as otherwise voters in floor-affected areas would be deprived of their right to exercise franchise.