Pashupati Paras faces revolt year after replacing Chirag as LJP chief; 3 MPs to join JDU

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) is set to implode for a second time, with Members of Parliament from the party planning yet another rebellion, Republic leant on Saturday. Sources told the Channel that of the five MPs of the LJP, three are inclined towards joining the Janata Dal-United (JDU).

If the three MPs, namely Choudhary Mehboob Ali Qaisar, Veena Devi and Chandan Singh, shift to JDU, the LJP would be left with only two MPs, namely Pashupati Paras and Prince Raj. This comes exactly a year after Pashupati Paras, brother of LJP founder and Union Minister Late Ram Vilas Paswan, was declared parliamentary party leader, ousting Chirag Paswan.

How Pashupati Paras replaced Chirag Paswan as LJP chief 

In June 2021, the five MPs met Speaker Om Birla with a letter. In the letter to the Speaker, there were minutes of the LJP Parliamentary party meeting, in which it was 'unanimously' decided that Chirag Paswan would be replaced by Paras as the Parliamentary party leader of the LJP. Accepting the letter, Om Birla had declared Pashupati Kumar Paras as the leader of the LJP in the Lower House. 

Later, Chirag Paswan had written to Om Birla stating that the declaration of Pashupati Kumar Paras as the leader of the House was against the provision of the Constitution. He had also approached PM Modi, whom he often referred to as his 'Ram' while calling himself 'Hanuman', but when no help was extended, he came out to express his dissatisfaction out in the open. He had said, "The silence of the BJP has certainly made me sad". 

A few weeks thereafter, BJP conducted a cabinet rejig and named Pashupati the Minister of Food Processing Industries, much to the displeasure of Chirag Paswan.