NDA Loses Ally In Bihar As Pashupati Paras’ RLJP Walks Out: ‘Faced Injustice Because Of Dalit Roots’
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Pashupati Paras accused the NDA of doing injustice to his party because of its Dalit roots and hinted at a possibility of joining Congress’ Mahagathbandhan ahead of Bihar elections this year.
Pashupati Paras announced his party’s departure from the NDA. (ANI)
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) lost a key ally in Bihar ahead of this year’s Assembly elections in the state after Pashupati Kumar Paras said his Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party is quitting the alliance.
The NDA had backed his estranged nephew Chirag Paswan, after Paras engineered a split in the Lok Janshakti Party founded by his late brother Ram Vilas Paswan. Paras alleged his party was treated unfairly due to being a Dalit party, which triggered his decision.
“Whenever an NDA meeting was held in Bihar, BJP state chief and JD(U) state chief issued statements that they are ‘5 Pandavas’ in Bihar, they didn’t mention our party’s name anywhere,” said the RLJP chief at an event honouring Babasaheb Ambedkar’s birth anniversary.
‘NDA Did Injustice To Us…’
“I have been with the NDA from 2014 to date. We were loyal allies of the NDA. You must have seen that when Lok Sabha elections were held, the people of NDA did injustice to our party, as it is a Dalit party. Still, in the national interest, our party decided to support NDA in the elections,” he added.
Paras announced that his party has started a membership drive and will contest all 243 seats alone in the upcoming Bihar elections. He said if the Congress-led ‘Mahagathbandhan’ (Grand Alliance) accords his party proper respect and a suitable position, the RLJP may consider joining them.
At the RLJP function, Paras, who formerly served in the Nitish Kumar government, also accused the JD(U) supremo of being “anti-Dalit” and claimed to have got a sense after touring 22 out of 38 districts that “Bihar wants to elect a new government.”
Why Did Paras Leave NDA?
Paras was sidelined by the NDA for his nephew Chirag Paswan, who is now a Union Minister. In the bypolls to the five assembly constituencies held last year, his claim on one of the seats was ignored, and his proposed candidate joined the BJP, which gave a ticket to the latter’s son.
Following Ram Vilas Paswan’s death, Paras engineered a split in the Lok Janshakti Party in 2021, and became a Union Minister. Paras resigned from the Union cabinet ahead of the Lok Sabha polls last year, in protest against the BJP throwing its weight behind his nephew, who also got for himself the Hajipur seat, represented by his father multiple times and held by Paras till 2024.
Paras was also reportedly displeased when the state government made him vacate the bungalow from where he ran his party and allotted it to Chirag. Furthermore, the RLJP chief had been meeting Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav lately, which sparked rumours of a coalition.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, another prominent Dalit leader from Bihar, asserted “there will be no adverse impact on the NDA” from Paras’ decision. “He (Paras) may have made a formal announcement only today. But the writing has been on the wall since he began hobnobbing with Lalu Prasad,” he added.
The elections in Bihar are set to take place later this year, although the dates are yet to be announced. A high-stakes battle is expected to take place in Bihar, with the NDA, consisting of Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) and the BJP fighting against the Mahagathbandan; consisting of Congress, RJD and left parties.
(with inputs from agencies)
