Pashupati Paras quits federal cabinet after NDA gives 5 seats to Chirag Paswan’s party (File Photo)

Former Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras on Saturday made it clear that he will “continue to support the NDA” in the Lok Sabha polls, but there was no truce with nephew Chirag Paswan.

Pashupati Paras, who has been avoiding the media since relinquishing his ministerial post in disgust and returning to Bihar, issued a statement on social media website X.

Addressing Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda and the party’s Bihar in-charge Vinod Tawde, Paras wrote in Hindi, “Our people people The party is part of the NDA and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is our leader.” Paras, whose Hajipur Lok Sabha seat is being contested by NDA candidate Chirag Paswan, said Modi’s “decision is crucial for us. Crucial. We will fully support the NDA to cross the 400 mark and win all 40 seats in “Bihar”.

Pashupati Paras is in trouble after quitting the federal cabinet after the National Development Alliance lost five seats to Chirag Paswan’s Janata Party (Ram Vilas).

His party split in 2021 to form the Lok Janshakti Party, founded by late Ram Vilas Paswan, brother and father of Chirag Paswan Founded.

Although Pashupati Paras managed to get the support of all the Liberal MPs except Chirag Paswan then, they have now deserted him and tried to curry favor with his nephew or explore the BJP’s prospect.

Speculation is rife that Paras may join the fray as a rebel candidate, backed by the Indian bloc. Paras had hoped that the BJP would support him for a second consecutive term in Hajipur.

However, on Friday, the RJD, the largest opposition party in Bihar, made it clear that it will field its own candidate from the reserved seat represented many times by the late Paswan, whose son is campaigning underlining that he, not Pallas was the true heir to his father’s legacy.

The BJP has long argued that the nephew and uncle should “come together”, even as Chirag Paswan insisted the ball was in Paras’s court and that Paras was “the one who divided the family and the party”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)