NDA Seat-Sharing, Aspiration To Become Chief Minister: Chirag Paswan's Tell-All Interview To Republic Ahead of Bihar Elections

Patna, Bihar: Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan has broken his silence on seat-sharing with the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) ahead of the Bihar assembly elections and said that he is very happy about it and has no regrets about not contesting the elections this time.

In an exclusive interview with Republic, he said, "I am happy with the seat-sharing... It was my heartfelt desire that I contest the Bihar elections... But it can happen later…I am not the king; I can't be in that spot because there is no space. The NDA is very clear about it. Neither a kingmaker, because I am in an alliance. We never did a post-poll alliance; that's not in our culture… I don't want anything in a hurry."

Issuing a clarification on the seat-sharing tussle within the NDA for the Bihar elections, he said, “All parties in NDA are rallying behind Nitish Kumar to put up a strong fight in the elections.”

Asked about his future aspirations in politics and if he is asked to become the Bihar Chief Minister, Paswan made it clear that he will not merge his party with the BJP, but he is happy about his party having an alliance with the NDA.

"PM Modi would not say that to me…I would not merge with NDA to become the Chief Minister," he said.

He further stated, “It's not solely my decision; it's the party's decision...The prime minister likes the fact that I am leading my party...I will not go anywhere, as I am happy with this alliance.”

Paswan did not rule out the possibility of him becoming the chief minister of Bihar some day and said that he will patiently wait to get the opportunity to contest the elections for it.

"I definitely want the people of Bihar to give me the opportunity to lead them by choosing me as the chief minister. But I have the patience to wait for that day. Next time, I will definitely contest the elections," Paswan said.

"I can do everything but not fall in the eyes of the Prime Minister," he further said.

Dispelling the myth that money plays an important role in politics, he said, "I don't agree that today politics is run by money; politics is just run by potential."

Addressing the perception about Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, he said, "I don't agree with the perception of Nitish Kumar's mental stability. The kind of work he has done can be seen everywhere."

He added, "I believe in and am devoted to PM Modi. For the development of Bihar, I believe in Nitish Kumar, and I need to learn a lot from him."

Speaking about the challenges in Bihar, he said, "The drawback of Bihar is that the state and central governments are never the same. Bihar never gets a double engine, but the next five years are going to be a golden period for Bihar."

He exuded confidence in winning the Bihar elections.

"For every seat, a different war room is being made. I believe that we are winning 29 out of 29 seats. The issue that the NDA and I will focus on in this election is just development," he said.

Bihar Elections 2025

The 2025 Bihar Elections will have the main contest between the National Democratic Alliance and the Mahagathbandhan.

NDA includes the Bharatiya Janata Party, Janata Dal (United), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha.

The Mahagathbandhan led by Rashtriya Janata Dal includes the Congress party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (CPI-ML) led by Deepankar Bhattacharya, the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM), and Mukesh Sahani's Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP).

Additionally, Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj has also staked claims on all 243 seats of the state.

Polling in the Bihar 2025 elections is scheduled to take place on November 6 and 11, respectively, while the results will be declared on November 14. 

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