( file pic : Chirag Paswan)
Speed Post News Network
Patna : In a major political development on June 14, 2021, , five of the six Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) MPs in Lok Sabha have joined hands against their leader Chirag Paswan, MP from Jamui, and elected party MP from Hajipur Pashupati Kumar Paras, younger brother of former party supremo late Ram Vilas Paswan, as the party leader in Lok Sabha, in his place. The five rebel MPs conveyed their decision of electing Paras as the LJP leader in Lok Sabha to the LS Speaker on June 14, 2021.
Paras on June 14 lauded Bihar CM Nitish Kumar as a good leader and “vikas purush” . His nephew Chirag Paswan has been a strong critic of Nitish. Paras said that the five MPs have saved the party. He said that 99 per cent of LJP workers were unhappy with the turn of events in Bihar as Chirag led his party against the JD(U) and fared poorly in the 2020 Bihar assembly polls. Paras said his group will continue to be part of the BJP-led NDA and said Chirag can remain part of the organisation.
There has been no comment from Chirag Paswan on the issue. But, he drove to his uncle’s residence in Delhi to meet him. After spending over 90 minutes at the residence of Paras and Prince Raj, MP from Samastipur, Chirag left without saying a word to the mediapersons. Chirag has now been left virtually isolated at the top after taking on the mantle following his father Ram Vilas Paswan’s death in 2020. Sources close to him have blamed the JD(U) for the split in the LJP.
( JD (U) President Ram Chandra Prasad Singh at party office at Patna)
But, JD(U) National President Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, MP, on June 14 said at Patna that his party did not believe in breaking any political party. Singh, in an indirect reference to Chirag Paswan, said that a leader has to take party leaders and workers along. Singh said that the LJP could win only one seat in Bihar Assembly polls in 2020 Bihar Assembly polls although the NDA had won 39 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state 2019 LS polls. Singh said that LJP MPs and workers were unhappy with Chirag. He indicated that JD(U) could join the NDA Government, if invited.