Patna,(BiharTimes): Feeling isolated and marginalized within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) the presidents of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) met at lunch on Monday and held talks on merger or formation of a separate front to consolidate their position.

Apparently it was argued that the coming closer of the three parties would help strengthen their hold on Dalit and backward castes votes yet the truth is that the leaders of the three parties were somewhat upset over the way the BJP is treating them after the humiliating defeat of the NDA in the last November Assembly election.

The three parties have only five MLAs with the BJP 53. This is the first time that the leaders of the three constituents met without any saffron party leader in their midst.

The state BJP leaders kept a close watch on the meeting of Ram Vilas Paswan, Upendra Kushwaha and Jitan Ram Manjhi at the farm-house of HAM state president Brishen Patel in Vaishali on Monday.

They reportedly discussed at length all the possibility, including merger plan and putting a strong front in Bihar and elsewhere, especially UP, which goes to poll early next year.

A leader of one of the parties said that they felt the BJP had not been able to corner Nitish Kumar government in Bihar properly. The coming together of the three parties would also help them make an entry into the electoral politics of UP.

However, political observers are of the viw that the leaders of three parties can not dream of entering the UP theatre as in Bihar––their home turf––they together got just 10 per cent votes though they fought in alliance with the BJP. They have been completely marginalized and even media is giving little space to them. Thus, their ownly effort is to fight for the survival.

It needs to be recalled that soon after the NDA rout in Bihar last November rumours started doing the rounds in Delhi that prime minister Narendra Modi may make a major cabinet reshuffle and drop some of the ministers from the state, especially those belonging to LJP and RLSP.

On the other hand Manjhi, who has been pushed back to wall, is fighting for his existence. Therefore, of late he is issuing fantastic statements to defend the RSS line on reservation, said a commentator. He had also announced to forego the reserved seat in the next election and contest from the general seat.
If the three parties really merge, it is hoped that it would help improve their bargaining position.

Sources also said that the leaders of these three NDA constituents are also unhappy over the way the BJP has destabilized the state governments in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh.