Chirag Paswan completes his turnaround: From the brink of political oblivion to Modi 3.0 Cabinet

Only three years ago, Chirag, the son of Bihar’s tallest Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan, found himself in the political doldrums. In the 2020 Bihar Assembly polls, leading his party on his own for the first time (Ram Vilas Paswan passed away just ahead of the elections), Chirag took a brave decision to go it alone in the polls despite being a part of the NDA. He openly criticised CM Nitish Kumar and fielded LJP candidates only in those constituencies that the JD(U) was contesting. This had a massive impact on the polls as the JD(U) was reduced from over 70 seats in 2015 to just 43 in 2020. This massively endeared Chirag to the BJP, which had now become the senior partner in the NDA winning 74 seats.

However, months after the results, the LJP was split with Chirag’s uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras walking away with four of the six LJP MPs and joining the Modi government. Chirag was left in the lurch as he was not only out of the NDA, but even the party symbol going to the Paras faction. Chirag squarely blamed Nitish and the JD(U) for dividing his party. At the time, even the BJP did not extend a helping hand to Chirag due to its political calculations. Some senior JD(U) leaders had tried to persuade Paras to join it to shore up its numbers and have more bargaining power against an emboldened BJP. This made the BJP swing into action and ensure that Paras remained on its side. On June 14, 2021, a day after the split in the LJP, Paras’s claim of being the chief of the LJP’s Parliamentary Board was accepted by the Lower House.

Despite these setbacks, Chirag kept reiterating his loyalty to Narendra Modi, exhibiting an ability to sense the political winds in the state, a quality that his father possessed in plenty.

“Though Chirag declared himself as Hanuman to Shri Ram (Narendra Modi), the BJP had to side with Paras for political calculations then. However, the BJP never shut its doors to Chirag and kept him humoured. Meanwhile, Chirag hit the ground with his “Ashirwad Yatra” in Bihar and has demonstrated that Dalit voters consider him the true heir to Ram Vilas ji,” said a senior BJP leader in Bihar.

Chirag’s public outreach saw massive crowds gathering across Bihar. It was a forceful assertion by the young scion that the LJP belonged to him and that he had the votes. It did not go unnoticed by the BJP and when PM Modi wrote a touching letter to Chirag on Paswan’s first death anniversary, the doors of NDA were once again opened for him. He formally returned to the NDA in 2023.

Though many argue that Chirag continues to have absolute command on only 5% of votes (of the Paswan community) in Bihar, by winning all five seats his party contested and ensuring significant Dalit votes did not go against the alliance on other seats, Chirag has asserted that he has come of age as a politician. In Hajipur, a seat synonymous with his father, he defeated the RJD’s Shiv Chandra Ram by 1.7 lakh votes.

During the NDA meeting in Parliament on Friday, when Narendra Modi pulled Chirag to hug him following his speech, it not only underlined that his place in the NDA was cemented but also that Modi perhaps saw him as a rising star in Bihar.