Chirag Paswan accuses his uncle Paras of tarnishing NDA's image

Patna: Former Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan on Sunday charged his uncle and Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras with tarnishing the image of the NDA by questioning his entry into the BJP-led coalition.

Talking to reporters here late in the evening, Chirag reminded his uncle of the welcome accorded to him by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the recent NDA meeting in Delhi.

“It is bewildering to hear him making such statements barely a few days after I was hugged by the PM in front of all. Such utterances give a bad name to the coalition”, said Chirag, who is engaged in a tussle with his uncle to claim the legacy of his late father Ram Vilas Paswan.

“The prime minister had been a pillar of support when I was going through a hard phase following the death of my father. This is the reason why I never spoke against him even during the period I was not formally a part of the NDA," said Chirag whose party was split by Paras two years ago.

He also said, “It was because of the beautiful relationship (sundar Rishta) I share with the prime minister that I had campaigned for the BJP in by-elections to a few assembly seats last year though I was not in the NDA at that time." The Jamui MP, who now heads Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) also said he was ready to talk to Paras about his late father's pocket borough Hajipur, which his uncle represents in the Lok Sabha but on which he wishes to stake claim.

Paras had, at a press conference here on Saturday, declared that he will contest from Hajipur in the Lok Sabha polls next year, rebuffing Chirag's claim that he should get the seat as he was late Paswan's political heir.

Paras, whose party is known as Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, had also expressed confidence that his claim on the seat would be backed by the BJP since Chirag was “not yet a part of NDA”.

He had sought to buttress his claim by pointing out that Chirag was not invited to a meeting of NDA MPs called inside Parliament.

However, Chirag said, “I am ready to discuss all issues, including Hajipur, with my uncle. But such discussions must be held in private and disagreements must not be aired in public. It gives the coalition a bad name”.

Earlier, Chirag addressed a rally in Gaya where he launched a blistering attack on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his bete noire, whom he accused of having “attempted to finish me off politically by creating rift in my family, leading to disintegration of my party”.

Notably, Chirag had raised a banner of revolt against Kumar, who was then still in the NDA, during the assembly polls of 2020 when he fielded LJP candidates, many of them BJP rebels, in all seats contested by the chief minister's JD(U), causing its tally to fall sharply.

The JD(U), which pulled out of the NDA last year, has accused the BJP of having egged on Chirag for the brinkmanship in a bid to weaken Nitish Kumar to whom the saffron party had been playing second fiddle.

Chirag urged the people to vote for the NDA in next year's general elections and enable the BJP-led coalition to oust Nitish Kumar from power in the state in assembly polls which would be held a year later.