No alliance with Chirag Paswan until he apologizes: Pashupati Paras
Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) president and Union minister, Pashupati Paras, has dismissed reports of his party joining hands with his estranged nephew Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas). Paras said that discussions of a merger are off the table until Paswan—his late elder brother Ram Vilas Paswan's son—makes a public apology for his move to contest the 2020 Bihar Assembly polls alone.
Why does this story matter?
In June 2021, Paras staged a coup within the LJP and installed himself as the head of its legislature party in Parliament. Following this, Paswan expelled his uncle and five more MPs for anti-party activities. He also warned the BJP that any further talks of an alliance would happen after Paras's removal as a Union minister. After the faction in LJP, Paras formed RLJP.
Paswan's decision to fight elections alone was wrong: Paras
Commenting on reports of an alliance with Paswan, Paras said the future is unpredictable, adding he didn't have any problem with Paswan coming back to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold. "There's no question of coming together with...Paswan until he apologizes publicly for what he did in 2020. His decision to fight elections alone, despite our advice against doing so, was wrong," Paras said.
Paswan to not contest from Hajipur in 2024
Paras further revealed that Paswan had returned to the NDA only after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took his permission. Also, the RLJP leader said the NDA is a big alliance and that anyone joining it will only strengthen it further. He also dismissed rumors of Paswan contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Hajipur, which is currently represented by Paras in Lok Sabha.
Paswan walked out of NDA earlier
As the LJP (Ram Vilas) national president, Paswan decided to walk out of the NDA and raised a rebellion against Bihar CM Nitish Kumar ahead of the 2020 Assembly polls. In the 2020 Bihar elections, his party had bagged just 5.66% vote share and won one seat. The only MLA who saw the face of victory under the LJP banner, too, joined JD(U) later.
We've decided to support and campaign for BJP: Paswan
After exiting the NDA in 2020, in a surprise move, Paswan announced in October 2022 that his party would support the BJP for the Bihar by-polls. "All the decisions I have taken...are for the betterment of Bihar. We've decided to support and campaign for BJP candidates," he had stated, declaring his party's support for the BJP for the November 3 Mokama and Gopalganj by-elections.
LJP's performance in 2019 LS polls
The esrtwhile Lok Janshakti Party won six seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Bihar. However, after the official split in the party, five of the MPs went with the Paras-led RLJP, while Paswan is the only MP from the LJP (Ram Vilas).
