Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan on Monday expressed his unwavering support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ruling out any post-poll shift in Bihar.
The union minister’s party is a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Bihar assembly election. Speaking on the ANI podcast released just a day ahead of the second phase of polling, Paswan said that he “loves” PM Modi “a bit too much.”
“I want to emphasise again that as long as my Prime Minister is there, I am absolutely not going anywhere. My dedication and my love remain. I love him a bit too much,” Chirag Paswan said.
Asked if he was in the NDA solely because of PM Modi, Chirag Paswan replied with an emphatic “of course”.
On people saying that the result, scheduled to be declared on November 14, might not be in his favour, Paswan said it was good that some think so.
“Such thinking averts the evil eye,” the union minister said.
“I am the son of Ram Vilas Paswan ji. Whoever has seen his politics knows that the same values are within me because I am a part of him. My leader and my party have never entered into a post-poll alliance, no matter how many people called him a “weatherman.” Whichever alliance he chose to go with always came to power,” he said.
The history of LJP alliances
Formed in 2000, the Lok Janshakti Party was initially part of the NDA, which had a government in the Centre at that time. However, the party parted ways with the NDA in 2002 following the Godhra riots and joined the UPA in 2004, where the then party chief, Ram Vilas Paswan, held key ministerial portfolios.
Further, in 2014, LJP joined NDA, where Paswan once again held key ministries under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.
Following the death of LJP founder in 2020, tensions emerged between Chirag Paswan and Pashupati Kumar Paras over the party’s leadership and control. Subsequently, five of the six LJP Lok Sabha MPs sided with Paras, choosing him as their leader the same year.
In June 2021, the party formally split into two factions: the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), led by Chirag Paswan, and the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, headed by Pashupati Kumar Paras. While Pashupati Paras was part of the National Democratic Alliance in the 2020 Bihar elections, Chirag Paswan contested the election independently and parted ways with the NDA.
Chirag Paswan later rejoined the NDA ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where his party achieved a clean sweep, winning all five seats it contested in Bihar. In contrast, Paras did not contest the polls.
