Lok Janshakti Party Chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday constituted a committee to interact with other like-minded parties to look into the possibility of forming a popular government in Bihar.

Senior LJP leader Ranjan Yadav will head the committee, which has former Bihar minister and Paswan's brother Pashupati Paras, former state party chief Narender Singh, former Union minister Nagmani, leader of the LJP legislature party in Bihar Ramashraya Prasad Singh and Maulana Ghulam [Images] Rasool Baliabi as members.

Paswan said the committee will not interact with the Janata Dal (United) till it severed ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance. The LJP has been maintaining that it will support only a non-BJP, non-Rashtriya Janata Dal government.

The LJP leader's efforts come close on the heels of JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar's letter to non-RJD and non-BJP parties on government formation.

"The committee will get in touch with leaders of the Congress, the CPI [Communist Party of India], CPI (Marxist-Leninist), Samajwadi Party, NCP [Nationalist Congress Party] and the [Bahujan Samaj Party] to seek their support for government formation," Paswan told PTI.

These parties together have over two-dozen MLAs, while the LJP has 29 MLAs. The RJD, JD(U) and the BJP together account for 167 MLAs in the House of 243.

Paswan said the committee will also talk to Independent MLAs to explore ways to form a secular government.