GUWAHATI: A day after Janata Dal (United) announced its decision to contest the parliamentary elections in Assam and Manipur, newly-formed rebel party, Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) also declared that it would contest the Lok Sabha polls from the Northeast.
LJD was launched by Sharad Yadav in May last year after he parted ways from Janata Dal owing to its alliance with BJP in Bihar. The Gurugram-headquartered party aims to stitch an alliance of non-BJP parties to “oust the National Democratic Alliance”.
“Our party has decided to contest from the Northeast region through an alliance of Congress and other like-minded parties. We will have an understanding with our allies in states like Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland where there are two or one parliamentary seat. But in Assam, we will contest in either two or three seats,” Javed Raza, a leader and spokesperson of the party, told The Shillong Times on Sunday.
LJP has contested in the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Assembly elections late last year.
Asked about the party’s agenda, Raza said, “We are looking at empowering the country’s young population which constitutes about 60 per cent. We aim to create more jobs and employment avenues, empower farmers and women and fight corruption.”
The party had also played a role in opposing and preventing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 from being tabled in Parliament.
“We have always opposed the Bill and now look to work together with like-minded parties in the Northeast for ushering in development in the region,” he said.
The Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United), which had played a significant role against the Bill, with delegations visiting Guwahati to meet AGP and AASU recently, however is yet to disclose the number of seats it would contest in Assam and Manipur.
The party, which has one MLA in the Nagaland Assembly, would be fighting the elections on the agenda of secularism and development.