Ramvilas Paswan not vying for Union cabinet berth

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) supremo Ramvilas Paswan today said he was not in the race for a berth in the Manmohan Singh cabinet whenever the reshuffle takes place.

"I am not not going to be a minister," Paswan told reporters when approached for his comment on his party getting close to the Congress after its decision to support Congress nominee Ramcharitra Yadav in the Purnia assembly bypoll.

"I also fail to comprehend the notion that there has been any distance between the LJP and the Congress," he said.

"We decided to support the Congress nominee in Purnia to defeat the communal forces represented by the BJP," he said and ruled out a rift in the old ties between the LJP and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Paswan, the lone MP of his party, said he would raise the issue of Forbesganj firing during the forthcoming monsoon session of Parliament.

He said an LJP delegation would also call on President Pratibha Patil on July 7 to submit a memorandum against the "unprovoked and unwarranted" firing by men in uniform.

Paswan said he had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, National Human Rights Commission chairman KG Balakrishnan and National Minorities Commission chairman Wazahat Habibullah to inform them about the firing.

Stating that the Forbesganj incident involving death of four Muslims turned an international issue, he reiterated his party's demand for a CBI probe into the firing.

Paswan opposed the fuel price hike by the Centre and said he would express his views on the subject tomorrow.