"My journey over the past three years, leading up to being entrusted with a Cabinet rank, has been momentous," said Union Minister of Food Processing Industries and Lok Janshakti Party chief Chirag Paswan at News18 India Chaupal 2024 on September 16.
On being asked how it feels to be a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet, the 41-year-old minister said, “What has been more momentous than this feeling has been the past three years’ journey that led me to this place. In the year 2021, fissures appeared within the party, my family also saw separation in the process… I felt like everything that I call my own slipped through my fingers; there was a point where I was left with nothing, was thrown out of my own party, dubbed a nepo kid, and had to build from scratch.”
“However, I was resilient through it all and built my party and myself again… everything I have now is the byproduct of these struggles,” he added.
When asked if he is scared or if some other party has been triggering his reactions from time to time, Paswan reiterated that the LJP got together to fight the Lok Sabha elections and won all five seats from which it contested. He said, “Darta mein kisi se nahi hu; dar ab nahi lagta hai kisi baat ka (not scared of anyone or anything anymore)."
“When you have lost much and gained so much more thereafter, you lose your fear of losing.” He further said, “Right now, my focus and my party’s focus is entirely on the upcoming Bihar elections”.
When asked why he makes statements that make people wonder whether is working for or against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the union minister said, “My relation with my Prime Minister is that of an unbreakable bond that will remain so till my last breath… no power in the world can break it.”
He added, “I shared this bond with him when we were not political allies, for instance, during the 2020 elections. Even then I had said, ‘mere dil mein baste hai mere Pradhan Mantri’”.
“As for the demands I had raised since Modi 3.0 formed, one must understand that I have a party of my own and we have our own set of ideologies – we have our own concerns and priorities. In the year 2014, when LJP had become a part of the NDA alliance and I made my foray into politics, even then I had clarified that our alliance is based on specific agendas. In fact, any alliance or coalition is always formed on the basis of agendas. If you all of your agendas align, then you might as well be one party,” Paswan said.
He added, “Whatever differing points I have raised since Modi 3.0 was formed were on the basis of my party’s agenda and ideologies… Neither my father Ram Vilas Paswan compromised the party’s ideologies, nor will I.”
However, he said, he is happy to point out that despite Opposition claims of the Modi govt not paying heed to grievances or opposing viewpoints, PM Modi’s government has so far taken cognizance of every point that was raised by the LJP before taking any decision.
Speaking on Aam Aadmi Party’s National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation, he said, we have to wait and see if he favours a member of his family and brings them to power after talking against dynasty politics for so long.
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