Lok Janshakti Party’s president Chirag Paswan made heads turn when he announced that his party would contest the polls alone. The LJP pulled out of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar owing to differences with the incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his party Janata Dal (United).
Chirag Paswan has very carefully toed around the BJP for support and constantly maintained that the LJP and BJP are allies at the Centre.
After the death of his father, Ram Vilas Paswan, hailed as a kingmaker in Bihar, it is yet to be seen if Paswan junior can garner enough sympathy and trust both from Dalits and upper-caste voters and be seen as a youth leader for Bihar, and perhaps at the Centre if he decides to take on the challenge.
The LJP is contesting 143 seats in the state.
Thus far, the BJP has maintained a respectable silence over the sparring between Nitish Kumar and Chirag Paswan and have kept projecting a united front regarding their alliance with the JD(U), hailing Nitish Kumar's 'Sushasan' and promoting him as the perfect CM candidate for the state. Meanwhile Paswan Junior has sworn his allegiance to the BJP at the Centre, going so far as to say that a BJP-LJP alliance will govern Bihar.
The JD(U) and BJP have a 122-121 seat-sharing agreement for the 243 seats they are contesting.
Chirag, who will hit the campaign trail by October 21 has maintained that it was his father Ram Vilas Paswan who, before his death, told him to sever ties with Nitish and establish a new regime.
The LJP chief said his sole purpose was the “ouster of Nitish” and “establish a BJP-LJP Government in Bihar.”
When asked about the BJP clarifying that it had no relations with the LJP and Nitish was their Chief Ministerial candidate, Chirag Paswan said, “The BJP was with us. It is with us. And it will remain with us. The statements issued by the BJP are not theirs. They are forced to say so at the behest of Nitish.”
Speculations have been rife that Chirag’s experiment of breaking away from the NDA has the BJP’s tacit support. But it remains to be seen whether his 'Bihar First, Bihari First' campaign and the projection as the 'future generation' of Bihar has met the expectations of the voters.
Chirag Paswan was elected to the post of national president of the LJP last year and will begin campaigning next week. Bihar goes to polls on October 28, November 3 and 7. The results will be out on November 10.
(With inputs from PTI and Abhay Kumar, DHNS)