PM’s discretion but Paras can’t get LJP berth in cabinet: Chirag

LJP leader and Jamui MP Chirag Paswan on Tuesday said while it was the Prime Minister’s discretion to make anyone minister, Hajipur MP Pashupati Kumar Paras cannot be made a minister from the LJP quota as the party has already suspended him and four other MPs from primary membership.

Reacting to speculation about Paras getting a cabinet berth, Chirag said, “As per rules, it is a political party that nominates its minister after the PM communicates his decision to a party president about including any of its leaders in the Union cabinet. Paras and four MPs are not yet recognised as a separate group. Nor has Election Commission of India given it a party symbol.”

On Monday, Chirag returned to Bihar with a rousing welcome to the launch of his ‘Aashirwad Yatra’ from the Paswans’ turf of Hajipur.

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Reiterating that Chirag will not succeed in his attempt to become Ram Vilas Paswan’s political heir, Hajipur MP Pashupati Kumar Paras said, “It is solely the discretion of the PM to choose his minister. Legal and constitutional issues are being looked into.”

However, LJP principal general secretary Abdul Khalique told The Indian Express, “Paras’s faction is not yet recognised as a separate group. LJP and its symbol are with us and Chirag Paswan is still its president and leader in Lok Sabha…our legal stand is clear – he (Paras) cannot be an LJP minister.”