Welcome to Walk The Talk. I’m Shekhar Gupta and my guest today, not only Sonia Gandhi’s next door neighbour but also somebody who’s been in every Cabinet of every part and coalition since 1996 and will most likely be in any Cabinet that comes into being as a result of this election also. The man who personifies the power of the small party with a small votebank but a solid votebank. Ram Vilas Paswan welcome to walk the talk.

•Shekhar Gupta: Am I right in saying that no cabinet can be formed without you?

Ram Vilas Paswan: No, you’re right, you always right.

•Shekhar Gupta: Not without you, not without the PMK..These maybe small parties but this has empowered you people.

Ram Vilas Paswan:It is not about the party , it is the question of a votebank . The LJP has its own votebank and that votebank is such that whatever party it joins, the graph of that party rises straight away from 0 to 100. The same is the case with both the PMK and DMK.

•Shekhar Gupta: Even though you may have few seats, you command great leverage with the bigger parties

Ram Vilas Paswan: You were there in the last assembly election when we had said that there should be a Muslim CM in Bihar and even on that slogan we got 15 per cent of the vote. This implies that 15 per cent of our vote is a transferable vote. 15 per cent is not a small amount.

... contd.