Lok Sabha Elections 2024: NDA dumps union minister Pashupati Paras in Bihar, embraces nephew Paswan

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday (Mar 18) reached a seat-sharing agreement with its allies in Bihar state. The BJP will contest elections on 17 seats, whereas the Janata Dal-United (JDU) will get 16 and Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) will get five. With this, it became clear that the BJP was publicly cutting out Pashupati Paras, the estranged uncle of Chirag Paswan who wields influence over a faction of the LJP. Paras, an influential leader in the past, was even given a berth in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet as he held all the cards. Today, he stands isolated and appears to be fighting for his survival.

Paras on Tuesday (Mar 19) tendered his resignation as a union leader as his loyalists are in touch with the opposition INDIA bloc. Paras last week declared that he was "free to go anywhere," in an open challenge to the BJP-backed National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Pashupati Kumar Paras said, "Yesterday, the NDA alliance announced the list of 40 candidates for Bihar Lok Sabha...Our party had five MPs & I worked with utmost sincerity. Injustice has been done with us & our party. Therefore, I resign from the post of Union Minister."

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Paras vs Paswan contest

Paswan got five seats in the agreement reached among the NDA partners on Monday. The five seats also include Hajipur, the seat that once belonged to his late father, Ram Vilas Paswan.

Interestingly, this seat is currently held by Pashupati Paras, the brother of Ram Vilas Paswan. Ram Vilas won from here eight times, four of them being consecutive victories starting in 1996. The rest of Chirag Paswan's list has Samastipur, Jamui, Vaishali and Khagaria, among the six seats the undivided LJP won in 2019.

Now if Paras tries to hold onto his MP seat in these Lok Sabha elections, it could turn out to be a great contest between Paras and his nephew Paswan.

The last elections showed that 6 per cent of votes from the Paswan community had rallied behind Chirag Paswan, one of the major factors that sealed Paras’s fate.

Complications

The potential complication within the NDA arises from Chirag Paswan's strained relationship with Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) Chief Nitish Kumar.

Watch:India elections: Battle for Bihar's 40 Lok Sabha seats

Kumar still blames his party's lacklustre performance in the 2020 assembly election on Paswan's influence. Following Pashupati Paras' split from the LJP, Chirag Paswan contested the assembly election independently, resulting in a division of pro-NDA votes. This move significantly undermined the JD(U)'s position.

(With inputs from agencies)