Betrayal, backstabbing and battle resonated at the first media interaction of late Ram Vilas Paswan's son Chirag, who blamed Bihar's ruling party JD(U) for the rebellion within his party that saw the Lok Sabha MP pitted against five other MPs, including his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, who effected a leadership change in LJP.
Chirag, who insisted on still being the President of the party, wrote a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, calling his decision to announce Paras as Leader of LJP in the Lower House as "contrary to provisions of Constitution of our Party" and cited Article 26 of the Constitution of Lok Janshakti Party that empowers the central Parliamentary Board of the party to decide who could be its leader in Lok Sabha.
Chirag, who is both party President as well as Chairman of the party's Parliamentary board, also sent an enclosure regarding the party's decision to disqualify all five MPs who rebelled and asked the Speaker to review his earlier decision and rename him as Leader of LJP in Lok Sabha.
Chirag also addressed his first press conference in Delhi after the row, in which he said he is prepared for the "long battle" and alleged how his uncle, who was unhappy at his elevation as party chief, was not cooperating with him for some time and how this time a "conspiracy was hatched behind my back when I was sick".
That the row will raise much muck was evident. Team Chirag shared details of a complaint case of forgery and other charges filed against Paras, Prince Raj (two of five rebel MPs) in a court in Muzaffarpur by a social activist that will be heard on June 21.
On Tuesday, Chirag released a letter on social media that he had written to his uncle in March this year, alleging that a woman leader of LJP was accusing Prince Raj of sexual exploitation and was engaged in blackmailing. Prince Raj is the son of late Ram Vilas Paswan's younger brother late Ram Chandra Paswan. Paras and Prince both allegedly ignored his persuasion to go to the police with the matter. Immediately after the letter, a video surfaced on a YouTube channel in which the woman leader, who later joined the JDU, is heard saying she will "reveal many secrets" related to the LJP leadership, when the time comes. The video is an old one.
Soon after that, on YouTube, the lady in question repeated the allegations.
In the media interaction, Chirag took on the JDU for "engineering" defections in LJP. The JDU had earlier said "as you sow, so you reap", reminding Chirag of his betrayal of the NDA alliance in Bihar. Chirag, however, alleged that JDU wanted to create a divide in the party even when his father was alive.
Chirag, who repeatedly referred to the political legacy of 'Papa' Ram Vilas Paswan and called himself "sher ka beta" (lion's son), made no bones about his intention to go in for a long battle to claim the ownership of the party founded by his father.
Amid indications that the BJP also had a role behind this whole political flux, Chirag parried questions on that. Chirag, who had projected himself as "Hanuman" and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "Ram" in the run-up to Bihar polls, merely said, "If Hanuman has to seek help from Ram, then what good is Hanuman and what good is Ram".