October 15, 2020 11:21:02 am
While most of the sections that voted for his father are expected to remain intact, Chirag may also garner upper-caste support in seats where he has run higher-caste candidates. (Proceedings)
The national chairman of the Lok Janshakti Party Chirag Paswan it has adopted a careful strategy in the Bihar elections so far. He is a friend of the BJP but is not part of the National Democratic Alliance in the state. After the death of his father and LJP patriarch Ram Vilas Paswan, it remains to be seen if Chirag can capitalize on the sympathy factor in the state. While most of the sections that voted for his father are expected to remain intact, Chirag may also garner upper-caste support in seats where he has run higher-caste candidates.
The LJP is contesting 143 seats in the state, and its candidates face JD (U) nominees in most electoral districts.
So far, the BJP has walked the tightrope in Bihar. He’s trying to keep JD (U) and Nitish Kumar in a good mood, even as speculation abounds that Chirag’s experiment in breaking with the NDA has BJP support.
Elected to the position of national president of the LJP last year, the 2020 Bihar elections will be a litmus test for the young politician, laying the foundation for the future of Chirag and the LJP in the state. Before breaking ties with the Nitish-led NDA, the young Paswan had convinced his workers that they were the latest Assembly polls of the previous generation of socialist leaders – Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar – and that the future would belong to the generation younger. To have an impact in these elections, Chirag needs to win 8-10 seats. If his party even manages to cut the JD (U) figures, the young politician’s gamble will have paid off.
Explained: Apart from NDA and Mahagathbandhan, what other alliances are in the electoral fray in Bihar?
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