LJP chief Chirag Paswan (right) and his father, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan (file)
New Delhi:
Lok Janshakti Party Chief Chirag Paswan thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Interior Minister Amit Shah for asking about the health of his father, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who is in intensive care and undergoing treatment. in a Delhi hospital.
“Many times today the prime minister called to inquire about daddy’s condition. The honorable prime minister also spoke with the doctors involved in his treatment. Thank you,” Paswan junior tweeted in Hindi.
Hours later, he tweeted again: “I express my gratitude to the respected Minister of the Interior, Amit Shah, for taking care of my father’s health. He himself has not been well for a few days (Mr. Shah is recovering from complications after the Covid), thank you for showing me love. “
Paswan senior has been admitted for a “routine health checkup” that his son said had been delayed due to the workload during the Covid pandemic.
The tweets come amid tensions in Bihar ties between the LJP and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JDU ahead of the Assembly elections to be held in November.
Chirag Paswan has made no secret of his main ministerial ambitions and has not shied away from shooting Nitish Kumar, from the floods to COVID-19 and even the Sushant Rajput case.
However, he has been cautious in attacking the BJP, and many believe that he is reluctant to jeopardize his currently stable political career while the BJP remains in power at the center.
The BJP, meanwhile, is trying to hold the three parties together with elections just around the corner. Seat-sharing conversations are taking place with each other, as well as with other members of the NDA.
However, Mr. Paswan Junior has delayed his visit to Bihar due to his father’s illness. In a letter written Sunday, he said his father had urged him to return, but that he did not feel that he was well while in the hospital.
He also said that so far there had been no discussion about the allocation of seats.
Paswan junior’s criticism had cast doubt on the continuation of the LJP within the NDA.
Earlier this month, however, in an apparent U-turn, he said, “I have no problem with Nitish Kumar as the face of the NDA,” though further comments on the matter suggested that he was still not entirely happy.
“… I agree with any Tom, Dick or Harry chosen by the BJP,” he said.
Last week, Paswan junior urged the BJP to allocate more seats to him than the JDU, which won 71 of the 101 seats it contested in 2015. The LJP fought 42 and won just two.
In the Lok Sabha polls last year, the JDU and the BJP fought for 17 seats each, leaving the remaining six to the LJP.
Elections for the 243-member Bihar Assembly are due in November; the mandate of the current Assembly ends on November 29.
With contributions from ANI
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