Pashupati Paras leaves NDA over BJP’s deal with nephew, Chirag Paswan? What does it mean for Bihar Lok Sabha polls?

Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) chief Pashupati Kumar Paras has resigned as Union minister, a day after his party found no place in the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) seat-sharing deal in Bihar for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Speculations were rife about Paras exiting the NDA after he warned last week that his party was “free to go anywhere” as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chose his estranged nephew Chirag Paswan, who controls a faction of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), over him.

“I worked for the NDA with full honesty. I am thankful to PM (Narendra) Modi. However, injustice has been done to me and our party. Hence, I am resigning as Union minister,” 71-year-old Paras told reporters on Tuesday (19 March).

He was the Union Minister for Food Processing Industries in the Modi Cabinet.

Why did the BJP pick Chirag Paswan over his uncle? What does Pashupati Kumar Paras’ exit from the NDA mean for the general elections in Bihar? Let’s take a closer look.

A brief look at Chirag Paswan’s feud with uncle

Rift erupted between Chirag Paswan and his uncle, Paras, after the death of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) founder Ram Vilas Paswan in October 2020.

In June 2021, the LJP split into two groups. One faction – LJP (Ram Vilas) – is led by Ram Vilas’ son, Chirag, while the other – Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) – is headed by Paras.

Paras, the younger brother of the LJP founder, took five of the six MPs with him, leaving his nephew’s faction with just one and no MLAs.

The uncle and nephew are in a bitter dispute over the Hajipur Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar’s Vaishali district. The late LJP founder had represented the seat eight times in Parliament.

Now, Ram Vilas Paswan’s kin are wrangling over his legacy. Pashupati Paras won the Hajipur constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls on an LJP ticket, defeating the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) by more than two lakh votes, as per Times of India (TOI).

However, Chirag, an MP from Jamui, is unwilling to relent.

Why has BJP picked Chirag Paswan now?

Chirag Pawan had walked out of the BJP-led NDA in 2020 and contested the Bihar Assembly elections that year on his own. In 2021, the BJP sided with Paras in his battle for Paswan’s legacy with his nephew, leaving Chirag isolated.

However, the tides began to turn for the LJP (Ram Vilas) head after Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar left the NDA in August 2022, as per India Today.

The Janata Dal (United) supremo had shared an uneasy relationship with Ram Vilas Paswan. He and Chirag are also not on good terms. In fact, the JD(U) chief was even accused of engineering a split in the LJP. The BJP is also alleged to have backed the splinter in Ram Vilas’ party that came ahead of the Assembly elections in Bihar.

Chirag Paswan is back in the BJP-led NDA’s fold. PTI File Photo

During the 2020 polls, Chirag’s party fielded candidates in all Assembly seats where the JD(U) had contested. According to India Today, Nitish Kumar’s party was considerably reduced from 71 seats in 2015 to just 43 due to the division of votes.

As a result, for the first time, JD(U) had to contend with being a junior partner to the BJP, which had won 74 of the 243 Assembly seats.

Despite a split in the LJP, Chirag Pawan has proved his electoral mettle. A significant portion of the six per cent Paswan vote in Bihar has rallied behind him, noted India Today. Paswans make up the largest constituent of the Scheduled Caste population in Bihar.

Even after leaving the NDA, Chirag did not spoil his relations with the BJP. He once described himself as PM Modi’s “Hanuman”. Nearly three years down the line, his efforts have paid off and he is back in the NDA fold, while his uncle has been given the cold shoulder.

The saffron party appears to have factored the Paswan vote before dropping Paras.

“Among the Paswan voters, acceptance of Chirag Paswan is any day bigger than his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras,” a senior state BJP leader had told The Hindu last year.

However, the rift between Nitish Kumar and Chirag could be a thorn in the BJP’s ambitious goal of securing over “400 seats” in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The JD(U) supremo rejoined the NDA this January.

The BJP is set to contest from 17 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, while the JD(U) will field candidates from 16 seats — an indication of the saffron party’s upper hand in its ties with Nitish’s party this time, as per NDTV.

Chirag Paswan’s LJP (Ram Vilas) has been given five seats, including Hajipur, instead of the six the party wanted.

The two smaller NDA partners — Hindustani Awam Morcha and Rashtriya Lok Morcha – will fight from one seat each.

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What Paras’s exit means for Bihar LS polls

Paras’ exit from the NDA has opened doors for an uncle vs nephew battle in Bihar.

Besides Hajipur, Chirag’s party will be contesting from Samastipur, Jamui, Vaishali and Khagaria seats.

The BJP’s dumping of Paras could lead to LJP vs LJP fight in these seats. Paras has iterated he will fight from the Hajipur seat, which means a direct fight with his nephew.

“All the three party MPs will contest from their respective seats,” Paras had said earlier.

Although the RLJP supremo has not shared his future plans, there are rumours that he could join the Opposition INDIA bloc.

A national vice president of RLJP told The New Indian Express (TNIE) that senior party leaders met Paras on Monday at his official residence in New Delhi on Monday (18 March) to deliberate on the future course of action. The talks on joining the Opposition grand alliance in Bihar also came up.

We will have to wait and see what is in store for Bihar politics.

With inputs from agencies