Five out of six Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) members of parliament in Lok Sabha have rebelled against party chief Chirag Paswan, removing him as the head of the parliamentary party. The coup-led by Chirag’s uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras comes eight months after the death of Ram Vilas Paswan, Chirag’s father who founded the LJP in 2000.
After a day full of drama, the Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a circular confirming Pashupati Kumar Paras, the LJP MP from Hajipur as the party's new leader in the house.
The split in LJP comes seven months after Bihar Assembly polls, which Chirag-led LJP had fought alone after stepping out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over differences with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The LJP fared poorly with its lone MLA eventually switching sides to Nitish Kumar’s JD-U.
While Chirag has been highly critical of Nitish, he has been showering praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
What next for Chirag Paswan?
What does the split mean for Chirag Paswan who switched to politics from Bollywood in 2013 when his father Ram Vilas Paswan anointed him as heir apparent? The split is a blow for Chirag who could not even meet his uncle Paras despite waiting for more than two hours at his Rajendra Prasad Road residence in Delhi, perhaps in a patch-up attempt.
READ: Chirag Paswan has reaped what he had sown, says JD(U)
The loss of five party MPs, who have vouched to rejoin NDA under Nitish Kumar, has put a big question mark on the political career of the 38-year-old Chirag who has, for now, certainly lost the power of bargaining within the NDA.
The rebellion comes at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to expand his cabinet. Chirag, the Lok Sabha member of parliament from Jamui Bihar, seen earlier as a natural choice to replace his father, has lost his chance now. Instead, if his uncle Paras, who spearheaded the rebellion, is elected the LJP national president, his chances of making it to the cabinet increase, according to sources.
Also, read: Ram Vilas Paswan: The man who predicted which side the political wind blew
There is more to come much to Chirag's worry. The MPs are likely to remove Chirag as national party chief and the leader of the LJP parliamentary board, too.
“He will have to work hard in the rough and tumble of politics to keep himself relevant against his opponents,” wrote Nalin Verma, author and professor of journalism and mass communications at Invertis University, Uttar Pradesh.
What are the options for Chirag Paswan?
The LJP spilt clearly doesn’t mean that Chirag has run out of options to further his political career unless he wants to return to Bollywood. He is the undisputed heir to his father Ram Vilas Paswan, the tallest Dalit leader from Bihar. Chirag will reap benefits of his father’s legacy and has the support of the Passi-Dusadh community, the largest Dalit subgroup in the state.
In the last year’s Bihar Assembly polls, the LJP got 5.68 percent votes. The NDA won the polls by bagging 125 seats, but the JD-U under-performed by winning 43 seats.
What remains to be seen is how the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the leading opposition party of Bihar, respond to the developments within the LJP. RJD leaders Tejashwi Yadav and Chirag have been respectful of each other ever since they joined politics.
Maner RJD MLA, Bhai Virendra said the party would welcome Chirag if he wants. "Two young leaders, Chirag and Tejashwi would contribute to the all-around development of the state," he said.
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