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Updated June 17th, 2021 at 11:39 IST

JD(U) compares LJP split to Rajneeti film; distances itself from Chirag Paswan-Paras tiff

Amid the rift between LJP chief Chirag Paswan and his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, JD(U) compared the situation to the plot in the Bollywood film 'Rajneeti'.

Reported by: Akhil Oka
JD(U), Chirag Paswan
Image: PTI/Instagram | Image:self
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Amid the rift between LJP chief Chirag Paswan and his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, JD(U) compared the situation to the plot in the Bollywood film 'Rajneeti'. Released in 2010, the Hindi-language thriller is inspired by Mahabharata and describes how the death of a political leader leads to a bloody race for succession within his family. Reckoning that the LJP leaders were fighting after watching this film, JD(U) spokesperson Ajay Alok lashed out at Paswan for blaming Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.

Addressing the media on Wednesday, the LJP national president had accused JD(U) of attempting to break his party even when his father Ram Vilas Paswan was alive and after the 2020 Bihar Assembly polls. He said, “I was down with Typhoid for quite some time and many things happened behind my back during this period. There are several reports of JD(U) trying to break the party".

However, Alok on Thursday stressed that the ego of the Jamui MP was responsible for his downfall. According to him, the performance of LJP had deteriorated owing to Chirag Paswan's lack of political knowledge. At the same time, he distanced his party from the friction between the factions led by Paswan and Pashupati Kumar Paras. 

Rival camps vie for control of LJP

LJP's decision to go solo in the 2020 Bihar Assembly polls did not pay off as it managed to bag just one seat with a vote share of 5.66%. However, it secured more votes than the winning party's victory margin over JD(U) in the 32 constituencies as per the EC data, therefore, reducing the latter to a mere 43 seats. Thereafter, things went downhill for the party as Chirag Paswan was not accommodated in the Union Cabinet in his father's place. Earlier this year, LJP's only MLA Raj Kumar Singh and MLC Nutan Singh jumped ship to JD(U). 

More trouble lay in store for Paswan as Pashupati Kumar Paras and 4 other Lok Sabha MPs joined hands to remove him as the Parliamentary Party leader in Lok Sabha. At about 8.30 pm on June 13, Choudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser, Veena Devi, Prince Raj, Paras and Chandan Singh handed over a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in this regard. While Ram Vilas Paswan's younger brother was elected as the Lok Sabha party leader, Kaiser and Singh shall serve as the Deputy Leader and Chief Whip respectively. On Monday evening, the Lower House Secretariat formally approved these changes. 

The rift intensified on Tuesday after the Paras camp removed Chirag Paswan from the LJP president's position citing the principle of 'One Man, One Post' and appointed Surajbhan Singh as the working president until a new chief is elected. In response, the LJP national executive committee "unanimously" decided to sack the 5 rebel MPs from the party and authorized Chirag Paswan to take all decisions for the upcoming Assembly polls. Moreover, he wrote to Birla seeking a review of the decision to recognise his uncle as the LJP Lok Sabha leader citing that the Central Parliamentary Board of the party had not accorded its approval. 

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Published June 17th, 2021 at 11:39 IST

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