In a bid to consolidate his Dalit-Muslim vote bank, Lok Janshakti Party president Ramvilas Paswan on Saturday said he will hold a series of rallies late in May and early June in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Starting with a Dalit-Muslim rally at Kishanganj in Bihar on May 31, the LJP chief will address public meetings at Purnia on June 1 and another at Katihar on June 2. All these areas in North Bihar have a sizeable Muslim population.
Paswan, who had resigned from the National Democratic Alliance government after the Gujarat riots, said a big rally had been convened at Garhmukteshwar in Western Uttar Pradesh on June 6.
The LJP leader told PTI that at all these rallies, LJP would demand job reservation for minority communities in public and private sector jobs and favoured 10 per cent quota for Muslims in Central Government services.
Supporting the government's decision to reserve 50 per cent seats in Aligarh Muslim University for Muslims, he said those opposing it were out to weaken the country's integrity.
Paswan's party was headed towards a split on Saturday, and Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-united is all set to assume power with the help of independents and LJP rebels in Bihar.
