What next for Pashupati Paras in Bihar? RJD weighs options, NDA says 'good riddance'

RLJP president Pashupati Kumar Paras with RJD leader Rabri Devi at an Iftar party in March this year. (PTI)

The exit of Pashupati Kumar Paras, the president of the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) from the National Democratic Alliance has sparked a buzz over political realignment in the state months ahead of the Assembly elections.

Paras' growing proximity with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, which is believed to have played a key role in his alleged sidelining, has led to speculation over what many see as his party's imminent alliance with the Tejashwi Yadav-led party.

But the road ahead isn't going to be a cakewalk for Paras who is likely to find himself in a battle for survival. Formed in 2021 after Paras engineered a split following his brother and LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan's demise, ending a bitter power tussle with his nephew and Union Minister Chirag Paswan, the RLSP is yet to contest an election and prove its mettle on the ground.

Paras was denied a ticket by the NDA to contest from Hajipur, a seat he won in the 2019 polls on an LJP ticket. The BJP leadership instead favoured Paswan's son Chirag who won the seat his father represented eight times. Chirag's LJP(RV) also won all five seats it contested in the Lok Sabha elections in Bihar.

The BJP, as a result, sees Paras' exit as "good riddance" since it views Chirag as the sole political heir to the legacy of Ram Vilas Paswan, long seen as the torchbearer of Dalit politics in the heartland.

The RJD, which is hopeful of unseating the Nitish Kumar-led NDA from power in the polls slated to be held in October-November this year, is said to be weighing it options on the terms on which it accepts the RLSP's entry into the Mahagathbandhan fold. The Grand Alliance had won 110 of the 243 seats in Bihar, falling short of majority by 12 seats.

The RJD, which already sees Paras as aligned with its anti-BJP approach, is believed to be considering an alliance with the RLJP and hopes to use him to eat into the votes of the Paswan community which backed Chirag in the Lok Sabha elections in Bihar.

The Paswan community commands 5.3 percent votes among Bihar's electorate and is the largest constituent among the Scheduled Castes which comprise 19.65 percent of the state's population.

The RLJP severed ties with the NDA earlier this week, citing the "humiliation" that was meted out to him at the hands of the alliance during the Lok Sabha polls last year when it was denied a single ticket to contest.

"We have faced enough humiliation from the NDA. It is now time to leave them and chart a new political course. We will join any alliance that gives us the respect we deserve," Paras said at a party meeting on Monday.