Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) today accused Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of dividing dalits for "electoral interests" and appealed to the community to "stick as a group". "The ruling NDA sought to create a wedge among the dalits by carving out mahadalits in a strategic move to weaken their unity," LJP president Ram Vilas Paswan said at a function to mark the 634th birth anniversary of noted dalit icon Sant Ravidas. Claiming that there has been no improvement in the socio-economic and political condition of the mahadalits since they got a distinct identity a few years ago,Paswan said NDA government's intention was always malafide. If dalits want to fulfill their political aspirations,it is prudent for them to close their ranks and stick together as one group,he said in the context of a dalit leader vying for the post of the prime minister. Paswan said it was consolidation of the dalit votes that catapulted the BSP President Mayawati as the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister following a decisive victory in 2007 Assembly polls. If the dalits of Bihar wanted to enjoy political powers in Bihar,they have no alternative to rally behind a dalit leader,the LJP President said.
