Chirag may quit ministry to test Bihar Assembly poll waters from general seat

PATNA: Ahead of the Bihar assembly elections, there is growing speculation that Chirag Pawan, the Union Minister for Food Processing Industries and leader of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), may resign from the Narendra Modi cabinet soon to contest the state polls due later this year.
Bihar in-charge of LJP (RV) and Jamui MP Arun Bharti said on Sunday that a formal proposal would be sent to party president Chirag Paswan, requesting him to contest the assembly elections from a general seat instead of a reserved seat. He is likely to announce his return to state politics at a public rally in Ara, Bhojpur district, on June 8.
'Since Chirag is not the leader of a particular community, the party want him to contest a general seat instead of a reserved seat to send out the message that he is ready for a bigger role in the state politics,' Bharti added.
With social justice emerging as a major poll plank this time, Chirag's entry into state politics is said to benefit the ruling NDA. LJP(RV) has set to organise 'Nav Sankalp Mahasabha' at Ara in Bhojpur on June 8, in which Chirag may announce his return to state politics.
A senior leader of LJP (RV), speaking on condition of anonymity, said Chirag has decided to focus on state politics and bid farewell to national politics.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Indian Express

2 days ago

• Indian Express

Amid Bihar nepotism row, a look at LJP's churn: Paswan's brothers to rise of Chirag's brothers-in-law

The brothers-in-law of RJD president Lalu Prasad, Aniruddh Prasad or Sadhu Yadav and Subhash Yadav, were once known as influential RJD leaders in Bihar. Both Sadhu, former Lok Sabha member, and Subhash, ex-Rajya Sabha MP, are the younger brothers of Lalu's wife and ex-Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, who fell out with Lalu after 2010 and were since marginalised in state politics. With RJD leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, recently raking up the issue of nepotism while alleging that several NDA leaders have cornered various plum government positions for their relatives, such as brothers-in-law or sons-in-law, the political ascendancy of some of them has come into focus now. Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) founder and ex-Union minister, late Ram Vilas Paswan, had often drawn criticism for promoting his younger brothers and ex-MPs, Pashupati Kumar Paras and Ramchandra Paswan (who passed away in 2019), in state politics. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the LJP won six seats in Bihar, three of which were bagged by the members of the Paswan family, which included Paswan from Hajipur, son Chirag Paswan from Jamui, and Ramchandra from Samastipur. Paswan's first wife Rajkumari Devi lives in his ancestral Shaharbanni village in Khagaria. Their two daughters, Asha and Usha, are married, respectively, to Dhananjay alias Mrinal Paswan and Anil alias Sadhu Paswan. Must R LJP(Ram Vilas) chief and Union Minister Chirag Paswan and his elder sister Nisha are the children of Paswan and his second wife Reena. Following Paswan's demise in 2020, Chirag suffered another setback in 2021 when his uncle Pashupati split the LJP with the party's five out of six Lok Sabha MPs joining him. Pashupati became the head of the breakaway party outfit called National Lok Janshakti Party (NLJP) with Chirag taking charge of the LJP(RV). Subsequently, Chirag started visiting Shaharbanni more frequently to meet his stepmother Rajkumari. When she had been engaged in a property dispute with Pashupati early this year, Chirag made it a point to visit her in the village. This sent out a signal to Pashupati that Chirag was backing his stepmother. Chirag also distanced himself from his cousin Prince Paswan, who had become the Samastipur MP after the death of his father Ramchandra. Prince had also turned a rebel by joining the NLJP, which is now struggling for survival after being snubbed by the NDA. When Chirag, after his return to the NDA ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, looked to contest from his father's traditional constituency Hajipur, he decided to give the LJP(RV) ticket to his brother-in-law Arun Bharti, husband of Nisha, from Jamui – the seat Chirag represented for two terms from 2014 to 2024. While Chirag clinched his father's bastion Hajipur by a huge margin, Arun Bharti also had a smooth sailing in Jamui. Bharti, who has an MBA degree, also belongs to a political family with his mother Jyoti having been an MLC twice. Bharti had been working as a business entrepreneur in Delhi till Chirag convinced him to contest the 2024 parliamentary polls. After the LJP(RV)'s success in the Lok Sabha polls, with the party winning all five seats it contested, and Chirag's induction into the Cabinet of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government 3.0, Bharti became a close confidant of the party chief. Recently, it was Bharti who first said, in a social media post, that the LJP(RV) workers wanted Chirag to contest the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections and that too from a general seat 'so that the message goes out that he is now ready to lead the entire Bihar and not just one section'. While Chirag kept people guessing, a buzz was created around the LJP (RV)'s projection of 'nav netritva (new leadership)' for Bihar. On June 8, addressing a rally in Arah, Chirag announced that he would contest the Bihar Assembly polls from a seat that 'people decide for him', ending weeks of speculation over his return to state politics. LJP(RV) sources said Bharti is likely to play a 'bigger role' in the Bihar polls. 'While Bharti has been asked to keep focusing on his Jamui constituency, he has also been given additional responsibility to strategise for the party for the Assembly polls', said an LJP (RV) leader. On his part, Bharti calls himself a 'soldier of LJP(RV) and Chirag Paswan'. In the spotlight now, is also Chirag's another brother-in-law Mrinal Paswan, who has been the LJP(RV) national general secretary after having been a government employee in the excise department for 26 years. As part of the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government's recent move to reconstitute several commissions, Mrinal Paswan was appointed as the Bihar State Scheduled Caste Commission's chairperson. Devendra Kumar Manjhi, son-in-law of HAM (S) chief and Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, was made this Commission's vice chairperson. Amid Tejashwi's bid to attack the Nitish government over nepotism, Mrinal said: 'I now hold a responsible position and would not react to any political allegations'. Hailing Chirag, he also said that he would try to redress the grievances of Dalits in his role as the SC panel head.

Business Standard

6 days ago

• Business Standard

Bihar election battle: Seat-sharing dilemma for NDA and Opposition

There is now fresh speculation that in the upcoming Assembly polls, likely to be in October, Paswan's LJP (Ram Vilas) could throw up a surprise Archis Mohan Listen to This Article A mere 12,768 votes of the total 41.43 million polled separated the winner and the loser in the three-phase Bihar Assembly polls held in 2020. The election was held when waves of migrant workers were forced to return back to the state in the wake Covid-19 pandemic. The Janata Dal (United) JD(U)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 125 of 243 seats with a combined vote share of 37.26 per cent, defeating the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led 'Mahagathbandhan' that secured 110 seats with 37.23 per cent vote share. However, what skipped the headlines was that the BJP had

Hindustan Times

6 days ago

• Hindustan Times

Union Minister Jayant Chaudhary calls on Telangana CM Revanth Reddy in Hyderabad

Hyderabad, Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Jayant Chaudhary on Sunday called on Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy here. The union minister suggested to the CM that a Centre of Excellence be established for VFX, Gaming, and Audio-Visual sectors in Telangana as it would be useful in enhancing the skills of ITI students, an official release said. Responding to Chaudhary's suggestion, Reddy informed the union minister that the state government plans to set up the CoE within the upcoming Young India Skill University, and that the centre would be integrated with various ITIs. The union minister congratulated the chief minister on the establishment of the Young India Skill University. The CM requested the union minister to extend support to the university under the National Skill Training initiative. Chaudhary urged Reddy to provide free electricity to all ITIs. Responding to this, the CM immediately instructed officials to set up solar power systems in the ITIs in Telangana. The CM also directed the officials concerned to upgrade the syllabus in ITIs in line with the evolving needs of modern industries and ordered the formation of a special committee for the purpose, the release added. Reddy, in a post on 'X', said he had a wonderful interaction and a wide-ranging discussion with Jayant Chaudhary. Ever since both met for the first time at the inauguration of 'TelanganaRising' pavilion at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, Chaudhary has become a big supporter of the passionate mission of Telangana in the area of skills development, Reddy said in the post. "Skills rule the world, and therefore, we must ensure our youth have the best skills in the world," is a mantra we seem to share. He has assured total support in several areas, where we are looking to collaborate and work together with the Central government," the CM said.