Chirag Paswan's stupendous rise from forgotten actor to master strategist : Bihar Assembly Election Results 2025
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Chirag Paswan, the X factor in Bihar Assembly Elections 2025 Photograph: (Others)
Chirag Paswan has emerged as the X factor in Bihar after the assembly elections. He has risen from a failed actor to master strategist, leading LJP(RV) to a major role in Bihar after emerging out of the shadow of his late father, Ram Vilas Paswan. Here is his story
One of the most surprising rising stars of the 2025 Bihar Assembly election is Chirag Paswan. The man who once struggled both as an actor and a politician, has now emerged from the long shadow of his late father, Ram Vilas Paswan, who was a towering figure at the Centre and in the east Indian state. With victories or leads in most of the 29 seats his party LJP (RV) contested, Chirag is now one of the most important figures shaping Bihar’s political destiny.
Who is Chirag Paswan?
Born on 31 October 1982 in Bihar, Chirag made an early attempt at a film career before plunging full-time into politics. The current Union Minister of Food Processing Industries acted in the 2011 Bollywood film Miley Naa Miley Hum, which failed at the box office. He had left his computer engineering studies midway to pursue acting. Once dismissed by senior politicians as inexperienced and overly dependent on his father’s legacy, Chirag metamorphosed into one of Bihar’s most agile tacticians.
Chirag’s waxing and waning relationship with the NDA
Chirag's father Ram Vilas Paswan, a champion of some of Bihar’s most marginalised castes, allied with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) multiple times during his long political career, including joining the Modi-led NDA government in 2014. Chirag entered politics ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and won the Jamui parliamentary seat as an NDA candidate. His greatest strength was his father’s organisational network within the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). By 2019, Chirag shifted to Hajipur, the constituency closely associated with his father. Known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chirag has often been referred to as “Modi’s Hanuman.” But in 2020, the LJP left NDA over seat-sharing disagreements in the Bihar Assembly elections.
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How Chirag survived a family coup: The LJP split and formation of LJP (RV)
In 2021, Chirag faced the most critical challenge to his leadership following his father’s death in 2020. His uncle, Pashupati Kumar Paras, led five of the LJP’s six parliamentarians in a dramatic coup, removing Chirag from the party’s parliamentary leadership. Chirag claimed that the rebellion was engineered by rivals in the Janata Dal - United or JD(U), while the Paras camp alleged that Chirag concentrated too much power with himself. Eventually, the Election Commission intervened, freezing the original party symbol, the bungalow. Both factions were forced to start afresh. Chirag’s group became the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) or LJP (RV) with the helicopter symbol, while Paras formed the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) with the sewing machine symbol.
Also read: Bihar election results 2025 LIVE: Madhepura, Mokama, Siwan - Who won the high voltage fights?
Inner-party tussles cost LJP dearly in 2020
The inner-party tussles were damaging for LJP and Chirag in the 2020 Bihar Assembly election. The undivided LJP under Chirag had contested 137 seats - all alone - but won only one.
Slowly, however, Chirag rebuilt his organisation. Chirag embarked on a highly symbolic “aashirvaad yatra” to reclaim his father’s legacy after surviving the internecine party war. He reasserted his authority by retaking the old party bungalow at 12 Janpath in New Delhi.
In 2024, he rejoined the NDA, which he had left in 2020 over seat-sharing disagreements.
Chirag appeals to both Dalits and the youth
Between 2020 and 2025, Chirag positioned himself as a champion of Dalits, historically among the most excluded groups in India’s caste system, while also cultivating an energetic youth following. In the NDA’s 2025 seat-sharing negotiations, he secured 29 seats for LJP(RV). This proved a targeted and effective strategy: instead of contesting widely, the party focused on core strongholds. The results are now visible. At the time of writing, his party is leading in more than 20 seats, several of them by comfortable margins.
A force to reckon with: Chirag will now get an important place in the NDA
Chirag is no longer a junior partner in the NDA alliance. Once overlooked, he has emerged as a master strategist and a regional force to reckon with. In short, Chirag Paswan is the X factor of the 2025 Bihar elections.
