EXPLAINED: Why Rajya Sabha Seat Of Late Ram Vilas Paswan May Not Go To The LJP

During the elections, Chirag Paswan broke away from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the state which was headed by Janata Dal United (JDU) chief and chief minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar, citing ideological differences, Paswan contested the polls independently.

New Delhi: Speculations are being made that the Rajya Sabha seat of former Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) founder late Ram Vilas Paswan, may fall in the hands of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) instead of going back to LJP. This comes after the poor performance of the party in the recent Bihar assembly elections under the leadership of actor turned politician and son of the late party founder Chirag Paswan. The party miserably failed to attract the voters and only won a single seat out of 143 contested. During the elections, Chirag Paswan broke away from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the state which was headed by Janata Dal-United (JDU) chief and chief minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar, citing ideological differences, Paswan contested the polls independently. Paswan while campaigning for the elections, asked the voters not to vote for JDU as every vote for Nitish Kumar will push the state into darkness. On the other hand, he urged the voters to vote for the BJP and Narendra Modi in the constituencies where the party contested. According to the insider sources from the BJP, the party is looking forward to pushing its own candidate for the vacant Rajya Sabha seat, which was being speculated to land in the hands of the LJP, making Reena Paswan mother of Chirag, a member of the upper house. Meanwhile, the JDU in Bihar said that it would not support an LJP candidate for the upcoming byelections of the Rajya Sabha, citing the differences in the poll created by the party. While Chirag Paswan, contested the elections independently in the state, he was termed “vote Katua” (vote cutter) by senior BJP leaders such as Prakash Javadekar and Sushil Modi. The 37-year old leader did not miss a single moment to show his fondness for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ties of LJP with the NDA at the center, calling himself the “Hanuman” of PM Modi. The leader while campaigning for the elections claimed to help BJP making its own member as the CM of Bihar. In the 243 seat Bihar assembly elections, Nitish Kumar led NDA comprised of BJP, JDU, former CM of Bihar Jitan Ram Manjhi led Hindustani Awam Morch (HAM), and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP). The BJP won 74 seats out of the 110 seats it contested on, JDU bagged just 43 seats out of 115, while the VIP and HAM got 4 seats each. It is also worth mentioning, that the footprint of the LJP is shrinking since the inception of the party in 2000, the party won 29 assembly seats in the very first assembly elections that were held in February 2005, came down to 10 in the re-elections that were held in October the very same year. In 2010, the party secured 6.75 per cent of votes but managed to win just three seats, in 2015 it came down to two and finally one in the recent 2020 Bihar assembly elections.