Day after Bihar snub, Pashupati Paras quits Modi govt, looks for Opposition lifeline; BJP counsels patience

A dejected Paras told reporters in Delhi, “I have served the NDA with great honesty and loyalty. Even today, I am thankful to the PM. But with our party, and at an individual level with me, injustice has been done. So, I am resigning as a Cabinet Minister.”

In a letter to PM Narendra Modi, the former minister wrote, “I want to inform you that I am resigning as Union Minister because of some unavoidable reasons. I thank you for reposing faith in me as my stint as a member of the Union Cabinet.”

Amid speculation that the former Union Minister might join the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan that is part of the national INDIA alliance and contest from Hajipur, BJP insiders said their party’s doors were not completely shut for him. At his press conference, Paras avoided using any harsh words for either the BJP or his nephew.

“It was Chirag’s condition that Paras be kept out even if it meant a seat less for the LJP (RV). However, Paras will gain little by joining the INDIA bloc. He should remain patient. The BJP is always wary of annoying any section of Dalits in Bihar. He will get something in the long run if he sticks with the NDA,” said a state BJP leader.

However, RJD insiders said Paras was negotiating with top Mahagathbandhan leaders for at least three seats — for himself, his nephew and Samastipur MP Prince Raj, and Nawada MP Chandan Kumar. Paras’ Hajipur seat, which Ram Vilas Paswan won nine times, is among the five the BJP has left for Chirag. With this, the BJP’s message is clear: it considers Chirag the true heir to Ram Vilas’s politics and believes he enjoys public support.

Why and how LJP split

Months after the death of Ram Vilas Paswan in 2020, the LJP split when Paras walked away with four MPs and joined the Modi government.

Leaders in Bihar said Paras had been uncomfortable with Chirag’s leadership and his decision to contest against CM Nitish Kumar in the Bihar Assembly polls of 2020 even though both parties were part of the NDA. The BJP, sources said, initially kept away from the entire episode even though it massively benefitted from Chirag’s decision to field more than 130 candidates against the JD(U). The move catapulted the BJP into the role of senior partner in the alliance and severely reduced Nitish’s elbow room.

After the LJP split, Chirag squarely blamed Nitish and the JD(U) for dividing his party. At the time, 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 and independent of the JD(U). 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, leaving Chirag in the lurch.

“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. Also, the inclusion of Chirag will greatly irritate Nitish ji, which is not an undesirable situation for the BJP,” said a senior BJP leader in Bihar.

About Chirag’s resurgence, LJP (RV) spokesperson Vinit Singh said, “As he got a terrific response from the crowds everywhere, he had reasons to believe he was there to inherit the political legacy of his father. The BJP also noticed it and PM’s touching letter to Chirag on Paswan’s first death anniversary seemed to open doors for Chirag again. As time passed and Chirag kept hitting the ground, the BJP started warming up to him and we formally returned to the NDA in 2023.”

Another party leader said, “Chirag ji was always the true inheritor of the party. A political game was played against him in 2021, but things have come full circle now. Those who played politics then will now decline. People are with us.”