Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Chirag Paswan has managed to upstage his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras to become the BJP’s ally in Bihar, receiving five tickets for his Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) in return. Chirag, a two-time MP, will contest from his father Ram Vilas Paswan’s traditional seat Hajipur. In an interview to The Indian Express, Chirag talks about his long battle for political acceptance since his father died in 2020, his uncle, his see-saw equation with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and the allegations of promoting his family in politics. Excerpts: Now that the LJP (RV) has got its position as the “original LJP” in the NDA, what do you have to say about your journey since your father’s demise? It has been a very tough journey ever since I lost my father. My family and party were divided. My own people cornered me. I was often called a star-kid politician. But the struggle made me a better person and leader. Now that the BJP has accepted us as the original LJP and we are contesting five seats, including the prestigious Hajipur (currently represented by Paras), a little battle is won. But we are bracing for the main battle ahead. What are your first thoughts on contesting from Hajipur, the seat your father represented nine times? I am happy, emotional, and nervous as my father had set a very high benchmark. I would not call the opportunity of contesting from Hajipur a part of my sustained efforts to stay connected with people but I feel the onus of carrying forward the legacy of my father. To top it all, I have to live up to the expectations of the people of Hajipur, which was almost synonymous with my father for over four decades. Do you see your uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras as having lost the battle of the Paswans? Paras calls himself the “original heir” to Ram Vilas Paswan. I do not know if it is about winning the battle of the Paswans and I am not sure who first started using the term and who started the battle for that matter. It is true my uncle used to say he was the real heir of my father’s political legacy. But I was never in this race. I never looked for any validation. I do not believe in downsizing anyone to grow taller. There has been a lot of talk about Nitish Kumar’s reservations about you. Are you comfortable sharing the dais with him during campaigning? When it comes to our CM, it is all about working in tandem and striving to win all 40 seats in Bihar. If we get engaged in our personal issues, it will not be good for the alliance. Like my father, I also believe in putting the nation’s priority first. Alliance, party and individual come later in that order … I have no problem sharing the dais with the CM during the poll campaign. Is the LJP (RV) a potential main ally of the BJP in Bihar, one that can replace the JD(U) in the future? Till a few months ago, I was not even sure if I would be contesting from Hajipur. I was also not sure if I would be part of the NDA. I have not been aiming at replacing anyone. I want to create my own space. Is your cousin and Samastipur MP Prince Raj trying to reach out to you about his seat? I have no idea what Prince is doing. He has not approached me. I cannot react to any speculations regarding his next political step. What will be your message to voters? We will talk about the double-engine government in Bihar. Besides, we will talk about the good work done by Nitish Kumar in the last 18 years. We want to talk a lot about our core agenda of “Bihar First, Bihari First”, which focuses on galvanising youth power and making Bihar a top ranker in development indices. If we have a government at the Centre that listens to us, it becomes easier to implement our agenda for the state. How do you view the INDIA bloc as an opponent? I don’t have much to say about the alliance as I do not know if it exists or not. We have seen the UPA and then the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar. The person who was guiding the alliance, Nitish Kumar, has come back to us. So, where is the Opposition alliance? There is no clarity in the alliance as a party in it distributed some tickets before formal seat-sharing. All of its constituents have been fighting their own battle of personal goals and ambitions. Why did you choose to give the Jamui seat to your brother-in-law Arun Bharati? Jamui, which I represented twice, is very close to my heart. I was looking for someone who could take as much care of the seat as I did. I am not saying any party worker outside the family could not have done so. But I chose to field my brother-in-law as I believe he can be equal to the task. I know people will accuse me of promoting my family but I have now left it to the people to decide.
