Chirag Paswan inherited his political legacy from his father, Ram Vilas Paswan—one of the prominent Dalit leaders of the country, who joined forces with the BJP in 2014 despite once being their biggest adversary, to help establish his son in national politics. But after the passing of Paswan in 2020, his family and the LJP became fragmented. Chirag found himself isolated. Paswan’s youngest brother—Pashupati Kumar Paras—was elected as the national president of the LJP in June 2021, replacing Chirag.
In October 2021, the LJP was fractured into two parts and Paras formed the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP). After the split, Paras took five of its six MPs with him, asserting his control over the party. Despite this, Chirag did not give up.
Four years later, the BJP, which had abandoned him in 2020, now prefers to ally with Chirag rather than with his uncle Paras. Senior journalist Vikas Kumar sees Chirag’s current political activities as part of his struggle to negotiate for a better seat share. “His claim to contest all 243 seats is nothing but pressure politics,” he says.
According to sources, the JD(U) is pressurising the BJP to allot the minimum number of seats to Chirag’s party. The old seat-sharing formula may be applied—100 seats to the JD(U), 100 to the BJP and the remaining 43 to the LJP and parties launched by Jitan Ram Manjhi and Upendra Kushwaha. If this happens, it’s clear that Chirag will only get a limited number of seats.
