Chirag backs Nitish as CM; posters urge him to contest from Sheikhpura
Patna: Amid the political debate over LJP(RV) chief and Union minister Chirag Paswan's possibility of contesting the state assembly election this year, posters have been put up in Patna on Monday, inviting him to try his luck from Sheikhpura.
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While RJD said the race for the CM post in the NDA was to heat up in the coming days before the assembly polls, BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal on Monday said the NDA alliance partners are free to field any of their leaders from the seats to be allocated to the party concerned.
However, Chirag made it clear while talking to reporters in Raipur on Monday, "
will remain the chief ministerial face of Bihar in the elections and after the results."
Chirag reiterated that he would not be in Delhi politics for a very long time. "After becoming an MP for the third time, I am realising that it is not possible to realise my dream of 'Bihar First, Bihari First' by staying in Delhi. I told my party leaders that I want to go back to Bihar soon. Now, when I say if the party wants me to contest assembly polls, it means that the party is deciding what its effect will be," he said while elaborating his plan to expand his party beyond Bihar and strengthen it in Chhattisgarh as well.
"I will keep coming to Chhattisgarh to strengthen the organisation here… Gradually the party is in expansion mode," he said and added, "We have two MLAs in Nagaland, we have MLAs in Jharkhand. In the coming days, we will work in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Chhattisgarh."
On Sunday, LJP(RV) MP and his brother-in-law Arun Bharti gave strong indications that Chirag may contest from an unreserved seat in the assembly polls due this year.
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The Monday posters had the caption like "Bihar hope is Chirag. Only you can stop migration. You will also provide jobs. You will also fix the health system. Now, you will change the future of Bihar".
Political analysts link Chirag's wish to enter Bihar politics to a scenario if JD(U) supremo and CM Nitish Kumar steps back in the future due to age. Chirag may fit the bill as a dalit face to counter RJD's young leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. If any such scenario emerges after the election, the choice should not be limited to BJP and Tejashwi. The third factor in power play may be Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj. PK has welcomed Chirag to state politics and may back him in the CM race if electoral arithmetic needs his calculations, depending on how many seats his party wins.
In order to strengthen his party base, LJP(RV) has decided to organise 'Nav Sankalp Mahasabha' at Ara on June 10 to be attended by people from 33 assembly constituencies of seven districts in Shahabad and Magadh regions.
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