Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas) President Chirag Paswan met Bharatiya Janata Party President J.P. Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday to seek assurance that his presence in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar will not be diminished in light of the return of Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) President Nitish Kumar.
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Lok Janshakti Party, before the split between Mr. Paswan and his uncle Pashupati Nath Paras had fought on six seats in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Mr. Paswan insists that his faction should be given six seats, including Hajipur that his father had held eight times, and where Mr. Paras is the incumbent MP. Mr. Kumar’s return has put Mr. Paswan in a corner, since his politics has been centred around confrontation with the Bihar Chief Minister in the past four years. He had walked out of the NDA in 2020 Bihar Assembly election and his party fielded several candidates against JD(U).
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr. Paswan said that his party will take a “final stand” only after Mr. Kumar makes the formal announcement. So far, he underlined, Mr. Kumar is still a part of mahagatbandhan along with the RJD, the Congress, and the CPI(ML), and he is part of the NDA. Though Mr. Paswan conceded that the “speculations” doing rounds seem to be correct.
“We have shared our concerns, which have become more serious, in view of the events in Patna over the last few days. Both Mr. Nadda and Mr. Shah have assured that all the issues we have flagged will be dealt with. So far, the situation is positive in the NDA. Our final stand will be clear in the coming days,” he said.