BJP chief Nadda writes to Chirag Paswan to join NDA meeting on July 18
New Delhi (PTI): Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan is likely to attend the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance meeting on July 18 as the ruling party goes all out to put up a show of strength amid hectic efforts by the opposition to unite against the Modi government.
Union minister Nityanand Rai met with Paswan on Friday night for the second time in a week, and the LJP(R) also shared a letter written by BJP president J P Nadda to the young leader, inviting him to attend the NDA meeting.
Nadda described the regional party as a key constituent of the NDA and a key partner in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's push for the development and welfare of the poor.
The BJP's outreach to Paswan, son of late stalwart Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan, underscores its push to bring him back into the NDA's fold after he walked out of the alliance in Bihar in the 2020 state assembly polls to campaign against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was then the BJP's biggest ally.
While a split in the LJP spearheaded by his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, now a Union minister, weakened him, Chirag Paswan is seen to have succeeded in retaining the party's loyal vote bank with him, signalling the BJP his importance in a state where it is pitted against the formidable coalition of the RJD, JD(U), Congress and the Left.
He has also been steadfast in his support of the BJP on key issues.
A number of new BJP allies, including the Shiv Sena headed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the NCP faction headed by Ajit Pawar, several smaller parties from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and regional parties from the northeastern states, are among those expected to attend the NDA meeting.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also likely to be present at the meeting.
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Death toll from Israeli strikes in northeast Lebanon rises from 8 to 24, Lebanese news agency says
Deir al-Balah, Nov 1: Israeli airstrikes on Friday killed at least 24 people in northeastern Lebanon, the country's news agency said, raising the death toll from eight there.
It was the latest deadly toll in the area since the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah escalated last month.
Israel's military has said that its operation in Lebanon is targeting Hezbollah's military infrastructure.
Lebanon's state National news Agency reported four airstrikes in different villages across country's northeast, saying rescuers were still searching for survivors in Younine, a town in the Bekaa Valley, from the rubble of a targeted house.
Hussein Haj Hassan, a Lebanese lawmaker representing the region in Baalbek-Hermel region, said that 60,000 people have already fled their homes in the area due to Israeli bombardment.
