Secularism and communalism 'poll ploys', says Paswan

Meanwhile, in an apparent dig at his rivals Lalu Prasad Yadav and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Paswan said that in the wake of the Emergency these leaders, “who are products of the JP movement” used to say that they “will prefer to take poison than go to Congress”.

“See what the situation is today,” he said in reference to recent moves by Yadav and Kumar.

Without naming RJD chief Yadav, who had flayed him for “burning his ideology even before Holi”, Paswan asked, “Why did he back out when I asked him to name a Muslim as the chief ministerial candidate in Bihar in 2005?”