Nearly three years after breaking away from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Chirag Paswan, who heads one faction of his late father Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), announced his formal return to the coalition, and said that his party, the LJP (Ramvilas), will be contesting the next Lok Sabha elections in an alliance with the BJP.
“We have taken a formal decision to join the NDA because LJP (Ramvilas) and BJP are natural allies,” Mr. Chirag Paswan said. The announcement came just hours before the NDA meeting of 38 parties at the national capital on Tuesday. According to sources, Mr. Chirag Paswan, who has had meetings with both BJP president J.P. Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, has successfully negotiated six seats that the united LJP had fought in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections for his faction.
Mr. Chirag Paswan did not confirm this seat sharing formula, except for underlining that all his concerns had been “positively addressed”. One of his key concerns concerned the Hajipur seat, which he asserted would be fought by the LJP (Ram Vilas). His father won the seat seven times, and his uncle Pashupati Paras, who heads the rival party faction, the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, currently holds the seat. This signals the BJP’s decision to sideline Mr. Paras in favour of his nephew, Mr. Chirag Paswan.
Reacting to Mr. Chirag Paswan’s comments on Hajipur, Mr. Paras told media persons there had been a demand in 2019 that Mr. Chirag Paswan should contest from the seat, but the late Ram Vilas Paswan had insisted on fielding Mr. Paras himself. The Hindu had reported on Monday that the BJP had been trying to convince Mr. Paras to reconcile with his nephew.
Meanwhile, Mr. Chirag Paswan dismissed questions over whether his return to the NDA also meant the two warring camps of the Paswan clan would bury the hatchet. “It doesn’t matter to me who is there or not there in the alliance. It is the collective responsibility of all NDA constituents to work together for the success of the coalition,” he said.
Detailing the journey from the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, during which the then united LJP fought alone, to now returning to the NDA’s umbrella, Mr. Paswan said that the 2020 decision had not been against the BJP but was dictated by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s presence in the NDA.
He also blamed Mr. Kumar of working against the LJP’s six candidates in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, including on his own Lok Sabha seat, Jamui. Mr. Chirag Paswan underlined that in 2014, the LJP had joined hands with the BJP only after Mr. Kumar had already walked out of the NDA alliance. “Even ahead of the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, I had clarified that the decision to contest alone was not for my own personal interests. It was because Mr. Kumar had failed the State [of Bihar]. Even after 75 years, the condition of my State is deplorable,” he added.
The LJP’s return to the NDA, he said, was not only for the upcoming General Elections, but would continue for the next Assembly elections in Bihar, scheduled for 2025.
He also attacked the opposition’s efforts to come together ahead of the next General Elections. “Opposition unity is not to eradicate poverty or unemployment. It is not aimed at ending corruption. The Opposition parties have only one goal — ouster of one man — Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Mr. Chirag Paswan said.
