NEW DELHI, June 14: Fighting against the JD(U) while warming up to its partner BJP, Chirag Paswan, the son of the former union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, has been left to fend for himself after an overnight coup within his Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) ended on Monday with the late leader’s brother Ram Vilas Paswan’s brother Pashupati Kumar Paras replacing Chirag as the party leader in the Lok Sabha. Paras has received support from five of the six LJP MPs in the Lower House.
Chirag had led the charge against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the Assembly elections, fielding nominees against all JD(U) candidates, many of them rebels from the BJP. Although the NDA secured the majority, JD(U) ended up winning in 43 seats as opposed to the 71 seats in the previous Assembly polls, leaving the BJP with the upper hand.
Chirag’s stance left the LJP rank and file confused and the voters bemused. Earlier this year, LJP MLA Raj Kumar Singh crossed over to the JD(U), while the party’s lone MLC Nutan Singh had quit the party and joined the BJP.
The LJP also saw over 200 members of the party joining the JD(U) and an almost equal number of panchayat-level functionaries of West Champaran switching to the BJP in February. The rebels alleged that there was no internal democracy in the party. Moreover, discontent was being seen among cadres too. LJP insiders alleged that this was a crisis waiting to happen, mainly because of Chirag’s perceived arrogance. “He never bothered to keep his promise of touring the state and interacting with the party workers, made just after the Assembly elections,” sources said.
In a statement released to the media, Paras has said that being part of the NDA both at the Centre and the state was a “wish” senior Paswan always had.
However, during the 2020 Bihar election campaign trail, the BJP seemed reluctant to embrace the LJP. Even as Chirag claimed there would be a BJP-LJP government after the polls and called Narendra Modi Lord Rama and himself Hanuman, the BJP did not say a word about the LJP or its leader.
Last year, the JD(U) had objected to Chirag’s participation in an NDA meeting in New Delhi. The JD(U) leaders said the party would not let the BJP make the LJP part of the NDA or the Union Cabinet.
While internal murmurs in the party project a dissatisfaction with Chirag’s management since he announced LJP will fight the Assembly elections against NDA partner (JDU), the young leader may have to look at building trust to keep the 21-year-old party alive.
Chirag had dissolved the state working committee and the district units on 5 December, 2020, to save the party from a split but new functionaries were not appointed till months later. With Nitish Kumar still miffed with his radical move against the NDA in the previous polls, Chirag faces the chief minister as an opponent, a confused BJP that has to wager peace between two sparring allies, and a possibility of being either foes or friends with Tejashwi Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal.
(Manas Dasgupta)