Ahead of the forthcoming Lok Sabha election, Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas (LJP-RV) president Chirag Paswan on Tuesday expressed the hope that his faction will secure a “respectable” number of seats from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Mr. Paswan emphasised that his talks with the BJP were “going positively”, and by the end of month, seat sharing details would be announced. He did not, however, state the number of seats he was expecting to secure for his faction of the LJP.
In the 2019 parliamentary election, the undivided LJP had contested in six constituencies, and was given one Rajya Sabha seat.
“I have a lot of expectations as far as seat sharing is concerned and I hope to get a respectable a number of seats. There are other partners in the alliance and they too must be expecting a respectable number of seats. However, I don’t know what their talks may be about. My talks are going on with the BJP on seat sharing. In accordance with my expectations, the talks are positive, and soon the official announcement would be made, [that is], by the end of this month,” Mr. Paswan told media persons in Patna.
“I can’t say the number of seats I am expecting, and as you all know, we [the alliance partners] never make the announcement separately. A joint announcement will be made on it [seat sharing]. I think making the announcement before that would be against the alliance dharma (principles),” he added.
Mr. Paswan said a “mega show” would be held in Hajipur on January 16. The constituency is currently represented by his uncle and Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, who heads the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP).
Political observers say Mr. Chirag Paswan is planning a show of strength in the constituency as he is in a tug of war with his uncle to contest the Lok Sabha election from the Hajipur seat.
In the 2014 General Election, the BJP had entered into an alliance with the undivided LJP, which won six of the seven Lok Sabha seats it contested.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the LJP won the six seats it contested in an alliance with the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and the BJP. However, in 2021, five LJP MPs rallied against Mr. Chirag Paswan and joined hands with his uncle, Mr. Paras Paswan, who was given a berth in the Union Cabinet after he became an ally of the NDA.
The Hajipur seat was represented by Mr. Chirag Paswan’s father, the late Ram Vilas Paswan, eight times since he first won the constituency in 1977.
“I am not doing pressure politics with the mega show in Hajipur. I have no such intention. Hajipur is my family and since childhood, I have been visiting this place while holding the hand of my father. I am doing this show to just strengthen my relation with the people of Hajipur,” Mr. Chirag Paswan, who currently represents the Jamui Lok Sabha seat, said.
He also claimed that the NDA would win all 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar whereas the ruling mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) led by the JD(U) would not be able to win even a single seat.
Bihar’s ruling alliance has also commenced talks on seat sharing. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), JD(U), the Congress, and the Left parties will be contesting the Lok Sabha election as allies in the State.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the NDA won 39 seats, of which the JD(U) had won 16 of 17 the seats it contested, the BJP won all the 17 seats it contested, while one seat went to the Congress.
Senior JD(U) leader and State Minister Bijendra Yadav has said that his party would not compromise on the 16 seats it won in the previous General Election, and the RJD would have to share the remaining 24 seats with the Congress and the Left parties.
