Chirag virtually rules out truce with Paras, blames him for LJP split

Former Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan on Tuesday virtually ruled out a rapprochement with uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras and cousin Prince Raj, squarely blaming them for the split in the party founded by his late father Ram Vilas Paswan.

Chirag, who now heads Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), was here to celebrate Holi with supporters, and said that he was looking forward to the Lok Sabha polls as an opportunity to leave behind a despondent phase during which “many had written my political obituary”.

“I am thankful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and all NDA partners in the state for reposing trust in me. My party will put every ounce of effort to ensure that the NDA wins 400 plus seats, and bags all 40 constituencies in Bihar,” said Chirag Paswan, whose party has got five seats as per the seatsharing formula decided by the BJP-led coalition.

The formula has left Paras high and dry and he has reacted by resigning from the Union cabinet and declaring that he will seek re-election from Hajipur, which late Paswan represented several times during his lifetime and from where Chirag Paswan has declared his intent to enter the fray, in a bid to claim his father's legacy.

BJP leaders have been maintaining that they would like the two factions, the one headed by Chirag Paswan and Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party of Paras and Prince Raj, to come together.

However, when Chirag Paswan was asked about the same, he replied, “It is for him (Paras) to decide. After my father's death, being the eldest member of the family, it was his responsibility to take everybody along.”