On Sunday evening at Patna’s 10, Circular Road – the official residence of former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi – the Yadav family, like most years, hosted an iftar dinner. Deputy Chief Minister and Ms. Devi’s son Tejashwi Yadav, sporting a green skull cap and a Pathan suit, personally welcomed all guests.
The first VIP to walk in was Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Shortly after Mr. Yadav placed a skull cap on the CM’s head and they all sat down, all eyes turned towards the next important guest who arrived – Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan. Jaws dropped as he touched Mr. Kumar’s feet and hugged Mr. Yadav.
The LJP chief, currently one of Mr. Kumar’s biggest detractors, had skipped the iftar party hosted at the Chief Minister’s official residence on April 7. But it wasn’t his equation with the CM that had political import on Sunday.
The Jamui MP’s Circular Road visit is being seen as a pressure tactic to bargain with the BJP for more seats in the Lok Sabha elections in the event of a pre-poll alliance. He is the only leader from the Opposition camp to attend an iftar party despite the BJP opposing such gatherings citing last week’s communal violence in Sasaram and Biharsharif.
Party insiders say that Mr. Paswan wants to be sure about his role in the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and his Sunday message to the BJP was that he would keep his options open if denied the “desired number of seats”.
For the BJP, which is now looking for allies after Mr. Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) joined hands with the Rashtriya Janata Dal to form a mahagathbandhan government in Bihar last year, Mr. Paswan retains political relevance because of his late father Ram Vilas’s grip on a major chunk of the Paswan vote bank.
Uncle and nephew
In 2014, the BJP had entered into an alliance with the undivided LJP, which won six of seven Lok Sabha seats it contested. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the LJP won six seats it contested in alliance with the JD(U) and the BJP. However, five LJP MPs rallied against Mr. Paswan and joined hands with his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras in 2021.
Mr. Paras grabbed a Union Cabinet berth after the BJP took on his Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party as an NDA ally. Asked about his nephew, Mr. Paras lost his cool at a press conference on Sunday. “I’m not bothered about him or want to know where he goes,” he said, adding that his party remains firmly in the NDA.
“Paras ji may have the support of five MPs but the vote bank is with Chirag ji,” an LJP (Ram Vilas) leader said, requesting anonymity.
