PRAVASISAMWAD.COM
Even as the LJP’s fire rages on, Chirag Paswan has announced plans to hit the road, launching ‘Ashirvad Yatra’ on July 5, the birth anniversary of Ram Vilas Paswan
PRAVASISAMWAD.COM
Lok Janshakti Party’s (LJP) Chirag Paswan, son of eminent Dalit leader and Union minister for long, late Ram Vilas Paswan, is at the crossroads – at a loss to fathom which way to turn to: To go solo, or continue to clasp saffron (read BJP) hand firmly or join hands with PM Narendra Modi’s (NaMo) bête noire Lalu Prasad’s party, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), even while fighting a dour battle to keep the LJP under his thumb.
LJP and RJD, along with BJP and the Janata Dal (U), the latter led by CM Nitish Kumar, are the key political players in India’s eastern state of Bihar. The recent split in LJP, wherein five of the six party MPs revolted against Chirag Paswan, has left Paswan Junior fighting with his back to the wall to retain control of the party founded by his late father.
On Monday and Tuesday (June 28-29), Chirag was in Ahmedabad in NaMo’s native state Gujarat, reportedly to hold closed-door parleys with senior BJP leaders to decide on his future course of action. For the record, Paswan Jr described it as a private visit.
Chirag, a claimant to Ram Vilas Paswan’s legacy of Dalit leadership, is a beleaguered man at present. In recent days, five of the six party members in the Lok Sabha, removed Paswan Jr as their parliamentary party leader, replacing him with his uncle and Ram Vilas’s brother Pashupati Kumar Paras. Paras was also elected the party president. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, in no time, recognised Paras as the parliamentary party leader. LJP stands split down the middle.
Even as the LJP’s fire rages on, Chirag Paswan has announced plans to hit the road, launching ‘Ashirvad Yatra’ on July 5, the birth anniversary of Ram Vilas Paswan. He is sore that the BJP is doing nothing to bail him out of the present crisis. He still insists that he is a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), in power in Delhi. Sensing an opportunity, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Assembly and son of former CM Lalu Prasad, invited Chirag to join hands with him.
Ram Vilas Paswan had, in his lifetime, anointed Chirag as his political successor by making him party president, leader of the party’s parliamentary board as well as the parliamentary party.
Immediately after his dad’s death last year, Chirag chose to unambiguously profess his loyalty to PM Narendra Modi and his party BJP but spew fire at Nitish Kumar, the incumbent Bihar CM and NDA’s CM face after the state assembly election. LJP went to polls all alone but could win just one seat out of the 135 that it contested and forfeiting deposit in 110.
Bihar has a population of about 13 crores (130 million), almost 10 per cent of India’s total, and sends 40 members to the Lok Sabha (the lower house of parliament). So, the political tug-of-war in Bihar will be watched with more than ordinary interest.
Nitish’s JD(U) was adversely impacted in the poll. However, NDA managed to form government again in Bihar, with Nitish retaining the CM’s chair.
Chirag has alleged that Nitish-led JD(U) has engineered a split in his party and is unhappy that the BJP is not coming to his aid.
Political observers feel that the JD(U)’s “retaliation” to even the score was to be expected. Chirag was naïve if he didn’t expect it. But he seems to have been caught unawares by the turn of events in his party.
Junior Paswan’s calculations behind his Bihar strategy have foxed many political observers. He can gain little by forging an alliance with the main opposition party, the RJD, even though its leader Tejashwi Yadav has openly extended his hand of friendship. Though the RJD’s MY (Muslim-Yadav) vote bank, coupled with LJP’s Dalit votes – that is, if Chirag can hold sway over them- can swing the political sweepstakes their way, there is little for Paswan Junior in it, as he will have to be content with a supporting actor status. For, the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav is non-negotiable in RJD. Even respect cannot be assured – one of Lalu’s sons had last year called veteran party leader, (now late) Raghuvansh Prasad Singh “ek lota (a small pot) pani” in an ocean!
Going solo is a path strewn with thorns of long, sustained struggle. Public support to his ‘Ashirvad Yatra’ will be watched with interest, to gauge if he has inherited the mass appeal of his late father and if he enjoys the unflinching support of Dalits, especially Paswan community among them.
Chirag may have his own rationale to sing paeans to PM Narendra Modi and slamming Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, but buck doesn’t stop at Nitish’s door in India’s this hour of challenge – issues like Covid-induced health crisis, rising unemployment, loss of jobs, domestic migrant workers’ woes etc.
LJP is a political player almost limited to Bihar, but its import cannot be underplayed. Bihar has a population of about 13 crores (130 million), almost 10 per cent of India’s total, and sends 40 members to the Lok Sabha (the lower house of parliament). So, the political tug-of-war in Bihar will be watched with more than ordinary interest.