LJP's Ram Vilas Paswan says 'will stand by Chirag's decision' amid rift with Nitish's JDU

A month ahead of Bihar elections, a power tussle has begun within the ruling NDA, which will soon take a decision on its seat-sharing pact. BJP chief JP Nadda will visit Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on his two-day visit to the state starting September 12. Ahead of the visit, Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan has taken to Twitter and said that he will stand firm with every decision of his son Chirag Paswan, who now leads the LJP. This is seen to be a massive hint by Ram Vilas Paswan who is known to be at the winning side, and has grabbed Central portfolios several times. 

Taking to Twitter on September 11, Ram Vilas Paswan highlighted that he is the Union Minister in the Modi Cabinet and then revealed that he is hospitalised. Applauding his son's tremendous effort, he said that Chirag is carrying his duty as party chief with utmost dedication. Emphasizing that he 'stands firm with every decision of his son', the Union Minister said: "I am confident that with his youthful energy and thinking, Chirag will take the party and Bihar to new heights. I stand firmly with every decision of Chirag."

His statement comes days after Chirag Paswan met his party leaders on September 7 and is expected to announce if LJP will contest against the ruling JDU. The relationship between the two NDA partners has turned sour ahead of the elections. Chirag Paswan has publically targeted Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, especially for 'mismanagement' during the COVID pandemic, for the migrant crisis that began due to the Coronavirus-induced lockdown and increasing crime rate in the state.

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Tussle between JDU and LJP

While Chirag Paswan has targeted Nitish Kumar a number of times, JDU has compared Chirag to 'Kalidasa' who chops the branch of the tree on which he is sitting. As the power tussle spills out into the open with the poll campaign kickstarting in the state, JDU leader KC Tyagi, earlier this week, said that any party which is a part of the NDA in the state will have to accept Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's leadership, noting that top BJP leaders, including Amit Shah and its president JP Nadda, have announced that the alliance will fight the upcoming Bihar assembly polls under Kumar's stewardship.

Responding on the same, in a statement, LJP has now said that Tyagi has done them a 'favour' by making it clear that the two parties have never had any alliance. "We welcome this statement from the JDU that his party has never had any alliance with the LJP. JDU leader KC Tyagi has done us a favour," the LJP said in a statement.

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This also comes amid BJP's declaration that NDA will contest the polls under the leadership of CM Nitish Kumar. Chirag Paswan-led LJP met on September 7 and sources said that they have decided to contest on 143 seats. Sources say if the NDA does not agree to their poll terms, they may contest the upcoming elections against the ruling JDU.

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Interestingly, the poster launched by LJP for the upcoming polls talks about Bihar being led by youth and has a quote that reads: "Vo lad rahe hain hum par raj karne ke liye aur hum lad rahe hain Bihar par naj karne ke liye" which roughly translates to "They are fighting to rule while we are fighting to be proud of our Bihar." While it remains unclear as to who is the party attempting to target through the aforementioned quote, it should be noted that Nitish Kumar is ruling Bihar for 15 years and contesting for his reelection. Moreover, LJP is also seemingly challenging the social engineering of the JDU, which is relevant in the Bihar elections, by another quote in its poster "Dharam na jaat, kare sabki baat" (Neither religion nor caste, let's talk about all).

Both Chirag Paswan's LJP and Nitish Kumar's JDU have clarified, however, that they will stick to the alliance with the BJP in Bihar. It remains to be seen how and when the BJP leadership steps in to quell the ongoing tussle between LJP and JDU.

Bihar is all set for assembly polls with the Election Commission issuing guidelines for elections amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 243-member assembly seat, NDA has 131, and Mahagathbandhan has 101 seats (11 seats are vacant).

READ | Nitish's JDU & Paswan's LJP's war-of-words escalates before Bihar polls; BJP tight-lipped