Patna,(BiharTimes): When the Lok Janshakti Party vice president, Chirag Paswan, who is son of Union food minister, Ram Vilas Paswan, called on the BJP national president Amit Shah on Friday to demand early finalization of seats within the NDA political observers in Bihar were quick to interpret it as a sign of panic within the rank and file of alliance.

True the NDA formed an alliance at much later stage during the last year’s Lok Sabha election as Ram Vilas Paswan and Ram Kripal Yadav joined the rank after the announcement of election dates. But then that was a different story and the BJP was in a much more comfortable position and JD(U) and RJD were contesting separately.

But now the equation is different with grand alliance, which includes the Congress too, finally announcing the number of seats they are contesting. There is now no dispute over chief ministerial candidature of Nitish Kumar.

In contrast the picture in the NDA rank is not clear either on seat sharing or CM nominee.

The situation has gone complicated as Lok Janshkati Party, Rashtriya Lok Samata Party and Hindustani Awam Morcha all are demanding their own pound of flesh. It is not yet clear what would be the status of Pappu Yadav’s Jan Adhikar Party, though it is a fact that among all the leaders in Bihar it is he who is travelling most in helicopter all over the state. His opponents openly charge that he had got a helicopter from the BJP to create an atmosphere against the ruling government in Bihar. His security cover has already been upgraded to Y-category.

Yet there are no dearth of people within the BJP and allies, who are restive over the overbearing presence of Pappu Yadav. They are of the view that he has become too big for his boots as he recently got time from none else but prime minister Narendra Modi and that too ironically to discuss law and order situation in Bihar.

The contradiction within the alliance partners too is causing concern.

Chirag’s public opposition to associates of former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi is also worrying the BJP. The LJP is strongly opposed to Narendra Singh, his sons and others who, according to them, betrayed LJP in May 2005.

The latest statement against these important leaders of HAM has created a sort of uneasiness in relationship between Manjhi and Ram Vilas Paswan.

Dalit-watchers are of the view that Narendra Singh is not at all an issue. The truth is that Ram Vilas never tolerates another Dalit within the NDA rank. So when Mayawati joined hands with the BJP to form government in UP in April 2002 he quit the Vajpayee cabinet in protest against the Gujarat riots. The truth is that the Gujarat riots had subsided by then.