Chirag Paswan at Express Adda: ‘Support caste census, not caste politics… also have MY (Mahila, Yuva) formula’

Paswan, 42, was in conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group, and Vandita Mishra, National Opinion Editor, The Indian Express.

Asserting that he believed in the concept of “Bihar First” and “Bihari First”, Paswan said, “I also have MY (Mahila and Yuva) formula. Out of my five MPs, two are women. I talk about 14 crore Biharis… The moment Biharis come out of Bihar and outside caste, they do so well in every field – media, corporates and bureaucracy.”

He said the need of the hour is to work for Bihar’s development – something that having the same alliance in power in the state and at the Centre, he said, should help achieve – expressing confidence that the incumbent NDA would return to power in Bihar by clinching the state Assembly polls later this year.

Asked about whether he was concerned about doles being handed out by various parties to come to power, Paswan said, “Of late, yes, it is a concern. (I am) not talking about cash, but as a taxpayer, I would say services are more important than putting money in banks. Education and health should be free. I hope after 2047, when we become a developed nation, these things will be used on services.”

Chirag Paswan in conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group, and Vandita Mishra, National Opinion Editor at Le Meridien in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)

Defending the enactment of the amended Waqf law, the LJP(RV) chief said there was a tendency in some circles to spread distrust among Muslims, be it on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) or on Article 370. He underlined that while the CAA was to give citizenship to people from persecuted minorities in a few neighbouring countries, the Opposition framed a narrative that it was aimed at taking away citizenship – something that, he said, was proved wrong over the years.

A similar campaign, Paswan said, was launched against the abrogation of Article 370, but elections were recently held in Jammu and Kashmir following which the victor National Conference’s Omar Abdullah was back as the Chief Minister – something that showed, he noted, that the doomsday prophecies were wrong.

He went on to say that despite similar propaganda against the Waqf legislation, its trajectory would be similar and people would come to realise in course of time that the law is good. “You (Opposition) are rushing to the courts now but defending a former law where in most cases people could not move court,” he claimed.

Describing himself as the “Hanuman of PM Narendra Modi” again, Paswan said Modi had supported him when he faced a lot of opposition within his party and extended family following his father Ram Vilas Paswan’s demise in 2021. He recalled that his father, who had worked under six Prime Ministers, had told him that Modi meant business and made ministers take up and fulfil responsibilities. “Young people connected with the Prime Minister in 2014… I was adamant that we should join the NDA,” he said.

On rising acrimony in politics these days, Paswan said like his father he has friends in all political parties, adding that he regarded RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, too, as a “younger brother”. He said that all parties were becoming “presidential” these days and that party leaders were afraid how their supremo would react if they were seen socialising with members of other parties.

Asked whether he was concerned about the perception that the BJP “swallows up” its allies, Paswan said he believes that none could eat up a party till it keeps itself strong and connected to people. “If I lose connect with Bihar, I will start declining,” he added.

On why the existing NDA has no institutional arrangements or a common minimum programme (CMP) like in the past, Paswan said, “It is a nice concept to have the coalition coordination committees… and there were also CMPs. But those were when there was a need for coalitions.” He noted that there was no such need for 10 years after 2014, when the BJP had a clear majority, and that there was no pressing need even now as “talks and communication continue”. He said that he could reach out to PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah if there was something necessary to communicate.

While agreeing that belonging to a political family could be of initial help in politics, Paswan said such parties would go down if their leadership lacks ability.

Asked about the upcoming Bihar elections, Paswan said the NDA is a “winning combination” and that in the recent bypolls, it had won seats like Belaganj that it had not won for a long time. “Bihar CM (Nitish Kumar) has done quite a bit for women, and women voters still associate with him,” he said. Prohibition and a sense of security under the NDA government have helped maintain Nitish’s popularity among women, he said. “I supported prohibition even when I was not in alliance with him (Nitish),” he added.

Holding that he saw working for Bihar as his future, Paswan recalled that when he was based in Mumbai and a regional party used to beat up and abuse Biharis, he thought that rather than seeing this and living there, it would be better to go to Bihar and do something.

On the FIRs against comedian Kunal Kamra for allegedly using derogatory words against Shiv Sena chief and Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, Paswan said Kamra should have remembered that saying such words to demean a person was not good, just like vandalism at his premises was wrong too.