Rahul Gandhi's refusal to meet before 2014 polls key reason for Ram Vilas leaving UPA: Chirag Paswan
Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan says Rahul Gandhi's refusal to meet his father despite months of trying was a key reason for Ram Vilas Paswan leaving the Congress-led UPA and allying with the BJP just before the 2014 elections. Asked about his opinion of Rahul Gandhi, Chirag Paswan told PTI editors in an interaction at the agency's headquarters that the Congress leader has of late begun taking his responsibility «a bit more seriously» and criticised his recent speech in Parliament as unbecoming of the leader of opposition.
Chirag Paswan then recalled that he and his father had often met Sonia Gandhi to discuss the future of their party in the UPA alliance. Sonia Gandhi suggested that Ram Vilas Paswan meet her son. The senior Paswan sought an appointment and waited for more than three months but Rahul Gandhi did not relent, said Chirag Paswan, who at that time too was keen to leave the UPA and join the NDA.
Ram Vilas Paswan, however, was still keen to remain in the UPA, and wanted to discuss that with Rahul Gandhi, the son said.
«It was good for me though. Had the meeting taken place, it would have been difficult for me to convince my father to join the BJP-led NDA,» he said, noting that he preferred a tie-up with the saffron party due to his admiration and respect for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
«Till 2013, we were in the UPA and I remember very clearly that my father was not ready to leave the alliance. He wanted to continue in that alliance and it was extremely difficult for me to
