Rahul Gandhi behind Ram Vilas Paswan's UPA exit in 2014? Here's what son Chirag Paswan revealed

Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Chirag Paswan (PTI photo)

Union minister Chirag Paswan disclosed that it was due to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi that his father late Ram Vilas Paswan decided to leave the Congress-led UPA in 2014.

"Rahul Gandhi's refusal to meet him (father Ram Vilas) despite months of trying was one of the key reasons why we left the Congress-led UPA and allied with the BJP just before the 2014 elections," the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president told news agency PTI.

Recalling the old times, the LJP chief said that he, along with his father, used to meet Sonia Gandhi often to discuss the future of their party in the UPA. The former UPA chairperson suggested that Ram Vilas meet her son.

"My father sought an appointment and waited for more than three months but Rahul Gandhi did not relent," said Chirag Paswan, who at that time too was keen to leave the UPA and join the NDA.

Ram Vilas Paswan, however, was still keen to remain in the UPA, and wanted to discuss about the party with Rahul Gandhi, the Union Minister of Food Processing Industries said.

He added that till 2013, the party was in the UPA and his father was not ready to leave the alliance. "He wanted to continue in that alliance and it was extremely difficult for me to convince him to change the alliance," said the junior Paswan noting that he preferred a tie-up with NDA due to his admiration and respect for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"It was good for me though. Had the meeting taken place, it would have been difficult for me to convince my father to join the BJP-led NDA," Chirag said.

Chirag revealed that the Gandhi family scion was one of the key reasons why his party, then undivided and known as Lok Janshakti Party, quit the UPA in 2014.

"I think one of the reasons why my father left the UPA was because he could not meet Rahul ji. My father kept trying for a good three-four months to meet Rahul ji and not even a single meeting could take place. I think that was one of the reasons why my father was very upset. Despite being one of the senior leaders and an important ally in the UPA, he was not given time by Rahul Gandhi for a meeting," the LJP chief said.

The decision of the senior Paswan, a leading grassroots Dalit leader who passed away in 2020, to break ranks with the UPA and tie up with the BJP was one of the headlines of the poll season in 2014 and helped the BJP build momentum and expand its alliance in an election where it rode the Modi wave to win its maiden majority in the Lok Sabha.

Asked about his opinion of Rahul Gandhi, the Union minister told PTI that the Congress MP has of late begun taking his responsibility a bit more seriously.

"Rahul Gandhi showed a lot of reluctance in politics initially but has demonstrated signs of taking on more responsibility of late," Chirag said. He, however, criticised the LOP's speech in the Lok Sabha for the personal attacks on PM Modi and the Chair.