'PM Modi's Hanuman' Chirag Paswan Hurt By BJP's Silence, Says Relation Can't Remain One-Sided

Chirag even said that this entire period has made me reconsider our stance adding that he will consider all possibilities about his future political steps if attempts to corner him continue.

LJP leader Chirag Paswan at national executive meeting in New Delhi. (Image: PTI)

Patna: Amid the ongoing tussle within the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and attempts to corner him, former party president Chirag Paswan on Tuesday said that the silence of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is hurting him and asserted that his relations with the saffron party cannot remain "one-sided". 

Expressing his displeasure towards BJP's silence, Chirag even said that this entire period has made me reconsider our stance adding that he will consider all possibilities about his future political steps if attempts to corner him continue.

"Me and my father Ram Vilas Paswan always stood by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP like a 'rock' but the saffron party was not there when he expected their intervention during these 'difficult' times," Chirag said while speaking to news agency PTI.

"But if you are cornered, pushed and forced to take a decision, then the party will consider all probabilities... The LJP will have to take a decision about its political future based on who stood by it and who did not," he said underlining that he retains his faith in Prime Minister.

When asked if BJP reached out during the current crisis within the LJP and peculation about its role in the split, he said it was not 'appropriate' for the saffron party to keep mum while the Janata Dal United (JDU) worked to 'engineer' a split his party.

"I expected them (BJP) to mediate and try to sort whole things out. Their silence definitely hurts," he said. Meanwhile, the saffron party has maintained that the LJP crisis is an internal matter of the regional party.

In an indirect warning, the two-term MP even said that if uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras is inducted in the Union Cabinet and if the BJP offers Paras a ministerial berth as an LJP nominee then such a decision will not be acceptable to him.

Paras may be inducted as an independent or in any other capacity but his representation as the LJP nominee will not be acceptable to him, Paswan said, adding that it is now for the Election Commission to decide on the rival claims about which faction represents the party.

Chirag's mild shake to the BJP comes at a time when several anti-BJP regional parties coming together and NCP leader Sharad Pawar seen to be working on it. 

Paras has led a group of five MPs against Chirag and has been recognised as the LJP leader in Lok Sabha. While five of six LJP MPs are with Paras, Chirag has asserted that over 90 per cent of the party's office-bearers are with him. 

Further hitting out at Bihar Chief Minister, Chirag even alleged that Nitish Kumar never wanted a Dalit leader to gain in stature and had earlier tried to weaken the LJP founder and his father.