Bihar: 22 leaders from Chirag Paswan's LJP resign, to back I.N.D.I.A bloc

Image Source : PTI LJP (Paswan) leader Chirag Paswan

In a big jolt to Chirag Paswan, twenty-two leaders from his party Lok Janshakti Party (Paswan) resigned on Wednesday. The development comes hours ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Jamui, Bihar.

On resignation from Lok Janshakti Party, Organization Secretary LJP, Ravindra Singh accused Paswan of selling Lok Sabha tickets.

"Chirag Paswan has played an emotional game with the people of Bihar...When he got five seats due to our hard work, he sold all those tickets...People of Bihar will give him an answer..," he added.

Earlier on March 30, Paswan announced candidates for all the five seats in Bihar it will be contesting as an NDA ally. While Chirag's brother-in-law Arun Bharti has already filed nomination papers from Jamui, the party president, who has represented the seat twice in a row, will try his luck from Hajipur, his late father Ram Vilas Paswan's pocket borough.

For the remaining three seats of Samastipur, Khagaria and Vaishali, the party will field Shambhavi Choudhary, Manish Verma and sitting MP Veena Devi, respectively, according to a statement issued by the LJP (Ram Vilas). Choudhary, who will be making her debut, is the daughter of Ashok Chaudhary, a senior JD(U) leader and one of the most influential ministers in the Nitish Kumar government. Her seat, reserved for Dalits, was held by Prince Raj, Chirag's cousin who joined uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras in a revolt that resulted in a split in the LJP, founded by the late Paswan.

Verma, a confidant of Chirag, has been preferred over sitting MP Chaudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser, who had initially sided with Paras but changed tack recently and lobbied hard with Chirag, hoping for a third consecutive term. According to NDA sources, Verma has been chosen because of a "broader understanding between coalition partners" to ensure adequate representation for the Vaishyas, known to be BJP loyalists. Veena Devi, who was the first among LJP rebels to have reverted to the Chirag camp, is an upper caste Rajput, married to Dinesh Kumar Singh, a JD(U) MLC.

PM Modi to kick off NDA's Lok Sabha poll campaign in Bihar on Thursday

PM Modi will kick off the NDA’s Lok Sabha poll campaign in Bihar on Thursday with a rally, his first in the state since the announcement of the elections.

PM Modi, who is running for a third consecutive term in office, is scheduled to address the rally at Jamui around noon. BJP ally Chirag Paswan, who has handed over the mantle to brother-in-law Arun Bharti after having represented Jamui, a reserved seat, two times on the trot, has been effusive in his praise for the prime minister for the gesture.

"It is a matter of pride for Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and the people of Jamui that the prime minister has agreed to launch his campaign in Bihar from the constituency. We are committed to helping him achieve the target of 400-plus seats for the NDA, including all the 40 in Bihar," said Paswan.

Jamui is among the four Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, the other three being Aurangabad, Gaya and Nawada, which will go to polls in the first phase on April 19.

(With agencies inputs)