The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), led by the former Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, has formed an alliance of six minor parties to form a Secular Democratic Front, and will put up candidates in all the 140 constituencies of the state.
Mr Paswan told reporters here on Thursday that the Secular Democratic Front with LJP, Kerala Dalit Panthers, Republican Party of India, Peoples Green Party, Secular National Dravida Party and the Left Bahujan Forum had come together on a common minimum programme.
The CMP would focus on land for the landless, housing, healthcare, education and employment to all and reservation in the private sector and the judiciary. Reservation benefits should be extended to Dalit Christians and Muslims, he added.
Both the Left and Congress-led Fronts are competing on corruption and misrule following which development, welfare and social justice besides good governance has suffered,” he said.
The Secular Democratic Front's objective is to give a corruption-free governance and inclusive development based on social justice and ecological sustainability, Mr Paswan said.
Mr Paswan also announced the Front’s manifesto and common minimum programme, along with the list of 110 candidates of the Front.
When asked about the number of women candidates they would put up, Mr Paswan’s reply was simply “sufficient numbers”.
Mr Paswan said that similar tie-ups were also being planned in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
However, he replied in the negative when asked whether he had held discussions with the Uttar Pradesh chief minister and leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party, Ms Mayawati, which is all set to put up 140 candidates in the state.