Chirag Paswan again sends BJP a signal, says can’t have any truck with JD(U)

Says won’t contest coming Bihar bypolls, but hopes for alliance for Lok Sabha.

Chirag Paswan told reporters that during the next elections, be it to the Lok Sabha or the Assembly, the LJP (Ram Vilas) would not go solo. (Express file photo by Anil Sharma)

The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will not contest upcoming bypolls in the Mokama and Gopalganj Assembly constituencies in Bihar, party president Chirag Paswan said Monday and stressed that he would have no truck with any coalition of which the JD(U) is a partner.

At a meeting of its national executive, however, the party decided to contest the next Lok Sabha or Assembly elections as part of a coalition.

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It fielded 137 candidates in the 2020 Assembly polls, substantially reducing the JD(U)’s tally.

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“I don’t think anyone should have too much confusion on which coalition (BJP-led NDA or Mahagatbandhan) will have the LJP’s support. I have always opposed the policies of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. And any coalition where CM Nitish Kumar is present will never get the support of Chirag Paswan or the LJP,” Chirag told a press conference.

From the ruling alliance, the RJD has fielded candidates in both the seats where bypolls will be held on November 3. The death of Gopalganj MLA, Subhash Singh of the BJP, and the disqualification of the RJD’s Mokama legislator, Anant Singh, necessitated the bypolls.

Chirag later told reporters that during the next elections, be it to the Lok Sabha or the Assembly, the LJP (Ram Vilas) would not go solo, but the decision on which coalition to join would be taken closer to the polls. His snapping of ties with the NDA had set off a churning that eventually culminated in a split of the LJP founded by his father, former Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan.

Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, Chirag’s uncle, heads the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti party, which enjoys the support of five of the six MPs elected from the undivided LJP in 2019. Chirag is the sole member of his faction of the LJP in the Lok Sabha.

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“And in any case, coalitions have no value in Bihar today. Parties contest polls as part of one coalition and run governments with another. Right now my focus is on strengthening the party,” he said.

With his statement that the LJP (Ram Vilas) will not have any association with the JD(U), Chirag appears to be indicating that he is open to returning to the NDA, which he had quit ahead of the 2020 Assembly polls.

Meanwhile, claiming crime and corruption were at their peaks, a resolution passed at the meeting demanded the imposition of President’s rule in the state, which has “suffered” because of the “personal ambitions and wrong policies of CM Nitish Kumar”.

Chirag also announced that the LJP (Ram Vilas) would field candidates in the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections.