Bihar: Cracks in Ruling NDA After Paras Quits Modi Cabinet, Accuses BJP of ‘Injustice’

Patna: Within 24 hours of the Bihar's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA (National Democratic Alliance) finalising its much-awaited seat sharing formula to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, cracks have appeared with Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras resigning from the Narendra Modi cabinet.

Paras, who heads the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) resigned on Tuesday over not being given a single seat to contest in the Lok Sabha elections. He is likely to quit the NDA either today or tomorrow.

Another NDA ally Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) of former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha is also said to be unhappy over being given only one seat to contest. Kushwaha, however, is silent over the seat- sharing announced by NDA and is reportedly in talks with his party leaders. He had demanded three to four seats.

As per NDA’s seat-sharing formula, BJP will contest 17 of 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, clearly signalling an upper hand over its allies. BJP's major ally Janata Dal-United will contest 16 seats, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) of Chirag Paswan five seats and HAM (Hindustani Awam Morcha) of former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and RLM (Rashtriya Lok Morcha) of former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha one seat each.

As of now, all eyes are on Paras’s next move as well as on Kushwaha. Speculation is rife in political circles here that Paras may join hands with the Mahagathbandhan, which is a part of the Opposition INDIA bloc. Similarly, Kushwaha may also give a jolt to NDA.
Both Paras and Kushwaha are said to be in touch with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad.

“BJP ousted Paras after used him and has now chosen Chirag to use him. It is for Paras to decide his next move but Kushwaha’s silence also tells that everything is not over yet", RJD spokesperson Mirtyinjay Tiwari, told the media here.

Paras has expressed unhappiness over being ignored and sidelined in the seat-sharing formula in NDA. On Tuesday, he told the media in New Delhi that “injustice” had been done to his party which had forced him to resign. Though Paras did not say anything about pulling out of NDA, he is likely to reach Patna on Tuesday evening to talk to his party leaders and workers. After that, he is expected to announce to quit NDA, an RLJP here said.

The RLJP parliamentary board, in its meeting last week in New Delhi, authorised Paras to decide on whether to stay with NDA or not, given the political developments in the recent days. Three of five RLJP MPs, including Paras, Prince Raj and Chandan Singh, were present in the meeting. Earlier a high-level meeting of RLJP leaders was also held at Paras's official residence in New Delhi.
According to sources in BJP here, top leaders of the saffron party in New Delhi are still trying to pacify Paras and convince him not to pull out of the NDA.
"Paras ji has made it clear last week that he will wait till the seat-sharing formula was finalised in NDA. He was betrayed by BJP and is deeply hurt by it. He is coming to Patna to meet party leaders and is likely to announce to quit NDA by Wednesday,’ an RLJP leader considered close to Paras, told NewsClick.

According to the RLJP leader, what has angered Paras is that top BJP leadership ignored him and his party and opted to support his estranged nephew Chirag Paswan, who heads LJP (Ram Vilas) ahead of polls.

Paras's RLJP had made its stand clear to BJP last Thursday that Paras would contest from the Hajipur parliamentary seat. This was widely seen as a move by Paras to send a strong message to BJP following reports that Chirag would contest from Hajipur as BJP had agreed to support him. Paras is the incumbent MP from Hajipur.

"BJP leadership disappointed Paras and thrown its weight behind Chirag Paswan, whose party has been given five seats, including Hajipur. Chirag had reportedly demanded six seats, including Hajipur,” another RLJP leader said.
Chirag Paswan, who declared himself as Hanuman of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is MP from the Jamui seat that he won in 2014 and 2019.

In 2019, when LJP was united and its founder Ram Vilas Paswan was alive, it was senior Paswan who had chosen his younger brother Paras to contest from the Hajipur seat, considered his traditional seat. Ram Vilas Paswan did not invite his son Chirag to contest from Hajipur, RLJP leaders pointed out.

LJP split in 2021 after the death of Ram Vilas Paswan. Paras revolted against Chirag, who claimed to represent his father's political legacy, and managed to get the support of five of the six LJP MPs then. Only Chirag opposed him. Since then, political rivalry has continued between the uncle and nephew.

Sources in RLJP confirmed that the BJP top leadership had offered Paras Governorship and a berth in the Bihar cabinet to Prince Raj, his other nephew. Raj, an MP from Samastipur, is the son of Ramchandar Paswan, the elder brother of Paras. But Paras refused to accept the “offer” and demanded a decent number of seats instead.

However, in Bihar, caste equations play a major role in deciding the outcome of polls.

BJP understands this and has carefully sided with young Chirag, who is widely regarded as the political successor of Ram Vilas Paswan, who was considered an undisputed leader of Dusadh or Paswan, a militant Dalit community.

As per the latest Bihar Caste Survey report, Paswans make for 5.3% of the state’s total population, the second largest after the RJD chief’s Yadav community, whose population is 14.26%, one of the highest among all castes in the state.

Sensing the power of this caste equation in state politics, Chirag last week, while addressing a public meeting, said “every political party wants me to be on its side.” He more or less repeated the words of his father, who used claimed “overwhelming” support of his caste to bargain in politics and enjoy power, no matter which alliance ruled at the Centre.

Political watchers here said Ram Vilas Paswan's strength was his capacity to transfer his caste vote to any coalition or alliance that he joined.

"Chirag might have an upper hand to gain support of Dusadh but Paras, a seasoned politician, is not far behind. He can damage Chirag if he walks out of NDA this time. It will be not an easy battle for Chirag,”, said a political watcher.

Unlike his father, Chirag is yet to prove that he enjoys the same image and popularity, as this time the Lok Sabha polls will be the first without his father.

Political watchers also pointed out that Paras might not be a mass leader, and his RLJP a small party with a limited support base in some districts, yet he could damage NDA in a few seats if he pulled out of the alliance ahead of polls.