Bihar Election 2020: President of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) in Bihar, Chirag Paswan is now the face of the party in the upcoming assembly election after the death of his father and renowned politician Ram Vilas Paswan. Riding on the popularity and credibility of his father who was the Union Minister in the Modi government, Chirag Pawan's mantra for the forthcoming elections is 'Bihar First, Bihari First'.
The 37-year old leader in the run up to the elections had said that all candidates of the LJP who will secure a win in the Bihar election will support the saffron party for a BJP chief minister.
LJP for now has parted ways with BJP-JDU alliance in Bihar. Though the LJP chief has offered full support to the BJP, the party is leaving no opportunity to attack incumbent chief minister Nitish Kumar.
Who is Chirag Paswan?
Chirag Paswan is son of late Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Member of Parliament from Jamui seat in Bihar. Paswan is a graduate in engineering. He also appeared opposite Kangana Ranaut in a Hindi movie 'Miley Naa Miley Hum' in 2011.
Chirag Paswan's election history
In 2014 General Elections, Chirag Paswan contested for the Lok Janashakti Party from Jamui seat. He defeated rival Sudhansu Shekhar Bhaskar of Rashtriya Janata Dal by over 85,000 votes. In 2019, Chirag retained the seat, securing victory with 528,771 votes and defeating nearest rival Bhudeo Choudhary.
Chirag Paswan owns an NGO named Chirag ka Rojgar, with an objective to provide jobs to the unemployed youths of Bihar.
Chirag Paswan's high regard for Prime Minister Narendra Modi
On several occasions, Chirag Paswan has spoken his heart out for PM Modi saying. "I have the highest regard for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and I can never think of defeating BJP in elections even in my dreams. I want to categorically say that any number of LJP candidates, who win elections, will be supporting BJP for a BJP CM," he had said recently.
Chirag Paswan has also expressed that he is hoping post November 10, when the votes will be counted in Bihar, there will be a BJP-LJP government.
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Chirag leading anti-Nitish front
An anti-Nitish front by the LJP led by a 37-year-old talking about jobs and 'Bihari first' is likely to resonate among the young and restless. Another core vote bank for Nitish apart from the Kurmis, have been the women. With the Muzaffarpur shelter home case of sexual assault on girls very much fresh in the state's psyche, much of that vote bank is likely to desert the JD-U this time.
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In such a scenario, 'Modi se koi bair nahi, Nitish ki khair nahi' seems to be the overwhelming essence of the LJP's political posturing of anti-JD-U, pro-BJP politics. The LJP Parliamentary Board-passed resolution also took a direct confrontational mode with Nitish Kumar when it read, "In many seats, there may be ideological fights with the JD-U where the public can decide which representative will keep Bihar's good in mind." However, the LJP shied away from fronting any candidates against the BJP.
... has freedom to draw the conclusions they wish to: LJP's Sanjay Saraf
"We have fought elections against the BJP in Manipur, Jharkhand and even in Jammu and Kashmir earlier but in a friendly atmosphere. We have taken a conscious decision not to field any candidate against any BJP candidate in Bihar," Sanjay Saraf, LJP Spokesman said.
However, when pressed on whether the LJP is part of a larger plan of the BJP to edge out the JD-U after the election, Saraf avoided answering directly. "Media has the freedom to draw the conclusions they wish to," he said.
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