Patna: September 1, 2005
Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) received a major setback on Wednesday as a number of his Muslim leaders quit the party only to cross over the fence in the arms of ever-willing and ever-accommodative Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) literally wiping off the dreams of the LJP leader who had held on to his demand of a Muslim Chief Minister in Bihar hoping to woo the minorities in his camp.
An embarrassed Paswan, however, explained that these leaders had earlier been expelled from the party for indulging in anti-party activities a week ago and there was no element of surprise or shock in it.
Among those who deserted Paswan to embrace RJD included party's former general secretary and spokesperson Qamar Alam, Nasim Ashraf, Maqbul Haq and Nihal Ahmed Khan. Two others who walked out of the party to join RJD were Manoj Chaudhary and Basudev Singh.
