Patna:

Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan on Saturday attributed the relatively low turnout in the first phase of Bihar’s Lok Sabha polls to “no challenge faced by the NDA” in the state.

Paswan, whose party is contesting five of the state’s 40 seats as part of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance, claimed the Bloc’s performance would be “worse” than in 2019, when it could only win in Harbun won one seat.

“Voter turnout is low in Bihar because the opposition here is dwindling. While the NDA is doing well everywhere, there is at least some competition in places like West Bengal and that’s why voters there are switching There was a huge increase yesterday,” he told reporters.

The four seats going to polls in Bihar include Jamui, represented by Paswan twice. However, he has now shifted his base to late father Ram Vilas Paswan’s pocket district of Hajipur and sent his sister from Jamui husband Arun Bharti.

The four seats in Bihar that went to polls in the first phase on Friday – Jamui, Nawada, Gaya and Aurangabad – recorded a turnout of 48.23%.

Mr. Paswan also raised the issue of a video that went viral recently in which people could be heard attending a rally purportedly addressed by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav Use abusive language.

“This incident smacks of the anti-Dalit mentality of the RJD. I am shocked to hear that Tejashwi, whom I have always regarded as a younger brother, is trying to clean his hands in this incident. If anyone abuses his family, I will Strong objection was made in my presence,” Mr. Paswan said. Mr Paswan is known to have good relations with Mr Yadav and his father, RJD chief Lalu Prasad.

Accusing Yadav of “arrogance” in leading the single largest party in Bihar, Paswan said the RJD leader should remind people of “the role we play in the assembly polls”.

The allusion was to the disastrous defeat of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) in 2020, which was blamed on the then Paswan-led LJP of rebellion.

However, he downplayed the JD(U) chief’s absence from most rallies held by allies, claiming “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has advised all NDA voters in Bihar to conduct extensive campaigning, just with different leaders This is possible by participating in various “public meetings”.

He also claimed that despite the alliance being led by the BJP, the National Development Agenda was gaining popularity among Muslims.

Mr Paswan said: “The government led by the RJD and its ally Congress is seen as a failure in the state and at the Centre. Moreover, these parties have failed to provide adequate representation to Muslims despite seeking their votes, This is also exposed.”

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