Chirag Paswan
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By Dheeraj Sinha
Patna: Even as Lok Janshakti Party chief Chirag Paswan continues to maintain a tough posture against chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), former Maharashtra chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis on Friday asserted that the National Democratic Alliance was intact in Bihar and no party was going to walk out from the alliance.
Fadnavis, also the BJP’s election-in-charge for Bihar polls, told newspersons in Patna that no party was going to desert NDA, and instead more parties could join the alliance.
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“It is natural that separate parties in an alliance could have differences on some issue and that’s why they are different parties but all differences would be settled,” he remarked.
Fadnavis’s optimism could be dismissed as a mere political posturing at the time of election. Chirag of late has been highly critical of Nitish’s style of governance, creating an impression that he wants to dent his image of ‘Sushashan Babu’ for brightening his own political prospects. Recently, he had created ripples with a full-page advertisement that his party had splashed in several newspapers.
The advertisement was titled ‘Bihar 1st, Bihari 1st’ but also went on to add — Wo Lar Rahey Hain Ham Par Raj Karney Ke Liye, Ham Lar Rahe Hi Bihar Par Naaz Karney Keloye (They are fighting to rule over us, I am fighting to bring pride to Bihar).
The statement is being considered as a veiled attack on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, despite the LJP being a part of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), though it is not part of the Bihar government. Although, Chirag’s consistent attack on Nitish is largely seen as a pressure tactic to extract maximum number of seats in the deal, it could be also Chirag’s ploy to position himself in a bigger role in future.
Chirag’s father and union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who has been hospitalised with an illness for some time, in no uncertain term, said Chirag has taken complete charge of the party and any decision on the alliance in Bihar he takes will be final.
Paswan in a series of tweets said that his health started to deteriorate some time ago during the coronavirus crisis, but he did not go to a hospital because he, as food minister, had to fulfil his responsibilities. “There was no laxity in the work. I continuously served the country as food minister and made every effort to ensure food reaches on time everywhere,” he wrote.
Paswan said he finally got admitted at a hospital after Chirag realised he was ill and insisted that he got treated. He did not reveal what the illness was. Some media reports have stated he is suffering from multiple health issues, including per-existing heart conditions. He had undergone heart related procedures earlier.
“I am happy that my son Chirag is with me at this time and is doing all possible service. Along with taking care of me, he us also fulfilling his responsibilities towards the party,” he wrote on Twitter.
In a recent meeting of LJP’s “parliamentary board”, many leaders expressed their annoyance over Nitish’s leadership. However, they exercised restraint attacking CM in their statements issued afterwards. Interestingly, BJP has already projected Nitish as NDA’s CM face in Bihar. Another meeting of the party’s leaders is scheduled for September 15, where a decision on the alliance is likely to be taken.
The JD(U) has made it clear on Monday that it would not accept any challenge to the Bihar CM and LJP was free to take whatever decision it wished to. “NDA will contest elections under Nitish Kumar. There should not be any confusion on that score. LJP is free to walk out if its wants to,” JD(U) secretary general K C Tyagi said.
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