The LJP, founded by Ram Vilas Paswan, will compete separately from the NDA, Chirag Paswan said.
Highlight
- Ram Vilas Paswan died a few days before the high-risk Bihar elections
- He was known as the “weather vane” of Indian politics.
- JDU Sources Say Nitish Kumar Is Not Overly Concerned About Chirag Paswan
Patna:
Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, one of Bihar’s most prominent faces, died on Thursday, just days before a state election that has a lot at stake for his son Chirag Paswan.
The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), which Ram Vilas Paswan founded in 2000, will compete separately from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Bihar October-November elections, and Chirag Paswan said that as long as he remains loyal to the BJP, he will fight to defeat Janata Dal United (JDU) of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
On Wednesday, BJP’s Sushil Modi said that this would never have happened if Ram Vilas Paswan, then in hospital, had been active. Nitish Kumar also spoke about his long association with Paswan senior, even noting that it was with their support that he was given a position at Rajya Sabha.
Ram Vilas Paswan’s abilities to read signs were legendary and earned him names such as the “weather vane” of Indian politics and the “political meteorologist.” When he buried his anti-BJP stance and joined Nitish Kumar in the 1999 national elections to compete as part of the BJP-led NDA, RJD’s Lalu Yadav was cut down to seven out of 54 state seats and even lost his own seat. MP in Madhepura. .
In the upcoming 2004 elections, Paswan left the NDA to join the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) led by Congress. The Lalu Yadav-Paswan-Congress combo triumphed and Nitish Kumar, a partner of the NDA, even lost his seat in Barh. But Ram Vilas Paswan, in 2009, could not retain his Hajipur parliamentary seat and was practically in the desert until 2014. He was the first to feel that no one could stop Narendra Modi and joined the BJP. At the same time, Nitish Kumar did his best against Modi, a position he was forced to reverse only three years later, when he left the RJD and Congress.
Shortly after news of Ram Vilas Paswan’s death emerged, there was speculation among some sections of Bihar’s leaders about the impact on Chirag Paswan’s political strategy; A lot has already been risked.
Bihar will vote on October 28, November 3 and 7 for a new assembly of 243 members. The results will be announced on November 10.
In a letter to BJP President JP Nadda defending his decision to fight Nitish Kumar, Chirag Paswan had complained that when journalists in Patna asked the chief minister about his father’s health, he had ” feigned ignorance. ” JDU leaders say Nitish Kumar tried to reach Chirag Paswan but refused to call him back.
Will the death of your father affect the planning of the Chirag Paswan survey? Rumor has it that he may not be willing to put up more candidates in the second and third rounds of voting. By announcing 42 candidates for the first round on October 28, he avoided all seats where the BJP will compete. Six of his candidates are disgruntled BJP members who were left off their own party’s list.
JDU sources say Nitish Kumar is not overly concerned about the Chirag Paswan factor. Since 2005, they note, he never benefited from Paswan’s vote base; in fact they always voted against it. In fact, Nitish Kumar believes that Paswan’s votes against him are inversely proportional to Mahadalit’s votes for him.
To counter the Paswans, the chief minister joined former rival Jitan Ram Manjhi, who has a significant vote of “Mahadalit”, a group that combines all Dalit voters who are not Paswan. Manjhi’s party has been awarded seven seats out of 122 in the JDU (the BJP will contest 121 seats).
Much will also depend on how the BJP handles Chirag Paswan. In Bihar, the ruling party chose a side, Nitish Kumar, and has firmly told Chirag Paswan that he is alone.
At the center, Chirag Paswan remains an ally and has reason to look forward to his father’s cabinet post. Even he knows that regardless of his Bihar stance, he can’t really push his luck, as it will make his entry into central government very difficult. At this point, the BJP is unlikely to allow anything to jeopardize its bond with Nitish Kumar.
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