Patna, Jun 25 : LJP supremo Ramvilas Paswan today said he was not in the race for a berth in the Manmohan Singh cabinet whenever the reshuffle takes place. “I am not going to be a minister,”
Paswan told reporters when asked about his party getting close to the Congress after its decision to support the Congress nominee Ramcharitra Yadav in the Purnia Assembly bypoll.
“I also fail to comprehend the notion that there has been any distance between the LJP and the Congress,” he said.
“We decided to support the Congress nominee in Purnia to defeat the communal forces represented by the BJP,” he said and ruled out a rift in ties between the LJP and the RJD. Paswan, the lone MP of his party, said he would raise the issue of Forbesganj firing during the forthcoming monsoon session of Parliament.
He said an LJP delegation would also call on President Pratibha Patil on July 7 to submit a memorandum against the “unprovoked and unwarranted” firing by the police. Paswan said he had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, National Human Rights Commission chairman K G Balakrishnan and National Minorities Commission chairman Wajahat Habibullah to inform them about the firing and reiterated his party's demand for a CBI probe into the firing.
He also opposed the fuel price hike by the Centre. PTI
