Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan on Saturday paid a backhanded compliment to estranged uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras by congratulating him on joining the Union Cabinet, which, he said, was a goal the latter achieved by breaking up his own family.
The beleaguered LJP leader, who has suffered a setback with the Delhi High Court rejecting his petition challenging the election of Mr. Paras as the party leader in the Lok Sabha, said: “I am not going to give up my fight to reclaim the party nurtured by my late father Ram Vilas Paswan’s blood and sweat.”
In an oblique reference to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who he suspects of engineering the putsch in the LJP, Mr. Paswan said, “I cannot allow the party to be taken over by those who, because of personal ambitions, are sitting in the lap of people who did not deign to come out with even a tweet on my father’s birth anniversary recently.”
The Jamui MP also hinted at his disillusionment with the BJP, which has kept silent over the crisis in the LJP despite his unreserved adulation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. When asked by reporters whether he still considered himself a Hanuman to Mr. Modi, akin to the relationship between the Lord Hanuman and Lord Ram, Mr. Paswan cryptically replied: “This is a question you need to ask when elections are round the corner.”
Charm offensive
The 38-year-old, who has been reaching out to the family of his late father from the first marriage, also said, “I feel overwhelmed by emotions. After the death of my father and the betrayal of my family members, many other dear relatives have come out in my support.”
In Bihar since Monday as part of his ‘Ashirwad Yatra’, Mr. Paswan has paid visits to his step-sisters and stepmother in his native district of Khagaria, in a charm offensive to win over his close relations. The former Bollywood actor has in the past been accused of condescension towards them. “I am not a legal expert. So I will not comment much upon the Delhi High Court’s order until a meeting with my legal team in the national capital. But I am not going to give up,” he asserted.
Mr. Paswan opened a front against the Bihar Chief Minister ahead of the Assembly polls last year, claiming that the people of the State wanted a change in leadership.
