Ahead of the July 18 meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to be present, the BJP is trying to tie-up the loose ends of the coalition in Bihar. It has made moves to encourage reconciliation between the late Ram Vilas Paswan’s brother and son, who have split his Lok Janshakti Party into two, but it is unclear if those attempts can succeed.
Pashupati Kumar Paras, the late Paswan’s brother and leader of the Rashtriya Lok Jan Shakti Party (RLJP) has been warring with his nephew Chirag Paswan, leader of the LJP (Ram Vilas). On Saturday, Mr. Paras, who is also the Union Minister for Food Processing Industries, said that two political parties could make up, but not “two broken hearts”, and emphasised that no one could take the reserved Hajipur Parliamentary seat away from him.
“The two break-away political parties can make up, but two broken hearts never make up. None can take away the Hajipur seat from where I’m an MP, from me,” the RLJP leader Pashupati Kumar Paras said in Patna.
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Seeking the Paswan vote
After the death of the LJP founder in October 2020, his party was divided into two factions. The RLJP currently has five MPs, but Mr. Chirag Paswan is the only MP from the LJP (Ram Vilas), who holds the Jamui (reserved) seat. The RLJP chose to stay in the NDA fold, while Mr. Chirag Paswan walked out of the alliance in Bihar in the 2020 Assembly polls, to campaign against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was then the BJP’s coalition partner.
Now, with the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls approaching, the BJP is trying to take both the estranged uncle and nephew aboard the NDA. The Bihar electorate includes an over 6% Paswan vote, which plays a significant role in several constituencies in the State. However, Mr. Paswan is said to have succeeded in retaining the party’s vote bank with him and has also been the BJP’s vocal supporter on key issues, especially in Bihar. On the brutal police baton-charge on protesting BJP leaders and workers in Patna on July 13, Mr. Paswan condemned it immediately and urged the imposition of President’s rule in the State.
“Among the Paswan voters, acceptance of Chirag Paswan is any day bigger that his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras,” said a senior state BJP leader and a Rajya Sabha MP. There is strong speculation that Mr. Paswan may be accommodated in the Union Cabinet too.
Reconciliation moves
Nityanand Rai, Union Minister of State for Home and senior BJP leader from Bihar, met Mr. Paswan over dinner at his residence late on July 14 in Delhi and discussed the political situation. This was Mr. Rai’s second meeting with Mr. Paswan in the last week, having met him at his Patna residence on July 9 as well.
Earlier, BJP president J.P. Nadda invited Mr. Paswan to attend the NDA meeting on July 18. Mr. Rai is also said to be meeting Mr. Paras soon “to offer him a compromise formula”, sources in the BJP told The Hindu.
Meanwhile, Mr. Paras played down talk of reconciliation. When asked whether he would leave the Hajipur (reserved) parliamentary seat for his nephew, he said, “There is no question of leaving the seat. I’m an MP from Hajipur and will contest from there.”
The Hajipur seat in Vaishali district of the State had been the LJP founder’s traditional seat; the late Paswan had represented it several times in Parliament, sometimes with a record winning margin. There is now a buzz in political circles of the State that Reena Paswan, mother of Chirag Paswan, may contest the 2024 Lok Sabha poll from the Hajipur seat.
