‘Free to go anywhere’: Chirag Paswan’s uncle warns of NDA

Mr Paras said his party would wait until the BJP announces its list for Bihar.

New Delhi:

In a sign of trouble for the NDA, Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party chief and Union Minister Pashupati Paras said all five MPs from the party, including him, will be represented in their respective states in Bihar campaign for seats. He also warned that his party was “free to go anywhere”.

Paras’s statement came amid reports that the alliance had finalized seat allocation in the state and decided not to leave any seat, including the Hajipur constituency of Justice Party chief, to his party.

According to reports, five seats have been allotted to the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) led by Mr Paras’ nephew Chirag Paswan as part of the NDA’s Bihar seat-sharing agreement. The party will also contest the Hajipur seat, won nine times since 1977 by Ram Vilas Paswan, Chirag Paswan’s father and Mr Paras’s brother.

In 2021, a year after Mr Paswan’s death, the Lok Janshakti Party founded by Mr Paswan split into the Liberation Party (RLJP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (LJP).

While expressing disappointment at Friday’s NDA decision, Mr Paras left the door open for the alliance. He said his party remained a member of the NDA and had not yet spoken to opposition Indian groups, but warned that things could change if his party was not given “the respect it deserves”.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, the RLJP chief said in Hindi: “We are part of the NDA and we have maintained our alliance honestly. I respect Prime Minister Modi, Mr. Shah and the BJP president. We get this from the media The message is that our party is not being prioritized.”

“Many of our workers are disappointed. Politicians are not ascetics, they need to be among the people, who are supreme. We will ask the Prime Minister, Mr. Shah and Mr. Nadda to reconsider. We will wait until the BJP list is announced… … After that, if we don’t get the respect we deserve, we are independent. Our doors are open. We are free to go anywhere,” he said.

Mr Paras claimed that his party was not being treated fairly and pointed out that his party was a Dalit party and not issuing tickets to Paswan candidates was sending a wrong message to the country. “We’re waiting for them to reconsider,” he said.

Chirag Paswan on Wednesday said the seat-sharing agreement between him and the Bharatiya Janata Party has been finalized. According to sources, the plan is that the BJP will contest 17 of the 40 seats in the state, with Nitish Kumar-led BJP getting 16 seats and Paswan getting 5 seats, with the parties of Upendra Kushwaha and Jitan Ram Manjhi getting 1 seat each.

The BJP will also be keen to keep Mr Paras in it as the NDA, including the then undivided LJP, has won 39 seats in the state which has the highest number of Lok Sabha MPs fourth. With the RJD-Congress alliance stronger in Bihar than in 2019, the state is crucial in helping the BJP achieve its target of winning 370 seats on its own and 400 seats as part of the NDA.