Chirag gets five seats from BJP, Paras upset
NEW DELHI: Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan said on Wednesday that his party has finalised a seat-sharing formula with the BJP for the Lok Sabha polls and all his “concerns” were addressed.
Following a meeting with BJP president JP Nadda, Paswan was lavish in his praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders of the ruling party as he expressed satisfaction at the offer given to him, a change from his recent muscle-flexing as the alliance talks dragged on.
Sources said Paswan’s party may contest on five of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.
Hajipur seat, currently represented by his estranged uncle and Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras who heads another LJP faction, might be given to Paswan as he considers the constituency a part of his rightful share due to his father Ram Vilas Paswan’s long association with it.The LJP founder and stalwart Dalit leader represented Hajipur eight times in Lok Sabha. “Division of Lok Sabha seats in Bihar among all NDA parties decided. It will soon be formally announced. All my concerns have been addressed by the BJP. I am satisfied,” Chirag Paswan said.
Asked about the fate of the faction headed by Paras, Paswan said it was not his concern. “The seats my party has are mine,” he said, in an indication that the claims of the Paras-headed National Lok Janshakti Party might have been ignored by the BJP.
Amid claims and counterclaims by the two LJP factions and the BJP’s apparently failed bid for a rapprochement following Ram Vilas Paswan’s death in 2020, his younger brother Paras had walked away with four other MPs of the party due to their differences with Chirag Paswan, who remained the only MP in his faction.
However, the Jamui MP was successful in galvanising his party’s core supporters around his leadership, making the point to the BJP that he is the political heir to his father’s legacy.