Churn in Bihar politics as Chirag Paswan removed as LJP national president

Chirag Paswan, Ram Vilas Paswan’s son and architect of the new direction of the Lok Janashakti Party, today was flung out of his own party. His uncle, Pashupati Paras, took control of the LJP, ousted Chirag from the presidentship of the party and decamped with five MPs to the Janta Dal United (JDU), the very target of Chirag’s attack. With this, the tactics favoured by Chirag – of making the JDU irrelevant in Bihar politics by constantly undermining and criticizing chief Minister Nitish Kumar – has backfired with Chirag himself facing political marginalisation.

Ramvilas Paswan’s death led a serious void in Bihar politics. When Ram Vilas Paswan launched the LJP in 2000, it was seen as a party of the dalits, specifically the subcaste Dusadh which is numerically only about 2 per cent of Bihar’s population. A study by the Centre for Developing Societies (CSDS) says that 65 per cent of the Dusadhs voted for the LJP when it contested on its own in the 2005 assembly elections. But since then, a majority of the caste has voted for the alliance the LJP has joined before elections. In the 2015 assembly elections, 51 per cent of Dusadhs voted for the NDA, making it a grateful recipient of votes it might not normally have got. LJP thus came to represent a vote bank.

The rise of the LJP was a direct result of the decline of the Congress as a political force in the state. But Ram Vilas had an added advantage. He had been associated with the Socialist stream – ranging from Karpoori Thakur to Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar. His appeal was not just to his caste. His party gave tickets to many other castes.

In this, Nitish Kumar spotted an opportunity. When he floated his idea that there should be a coalition of ati-pichhere (Extremely Backward Castes or EBC), he was appealing to those who had been neglected by the likes of Ram Vilas. This was an undeniable assault on the LJP’s base. Ram Vilas took it in his stride. But the doors of the LJP were always open for those who resented Nitish Kumar’s dominance.

Chirag, however, was having none of it. Hotheaded, young and ambitious, he felt the party should strike out on its own. Ahead of the Bihar assembly elections in 2020, the party was liberal with nominations to other castes, including Bhumihars and Rajputs. Rebels from other parties including the BJP were welcomed with open arms. His primary call: defeat the JDU.

However, this tactic did not work. LJP was badly defeated in the assembly election, winning just one seat. Many in the JDU saw Chirag as an instrument of the BJP to control and curtail Nitish Kumar. The result showed that the LJP had damaged Nitish and in some cases even the BJP.

Now, with the reins out of Chirag’s hands, LJP is set for a totally different trajectory. a meeting of the LJP’s national executive will likely be called in Patna in the coming few days, where the rebel leader may replace Chirag Paswan as party president.

In his media interaction, Pashupati Paras said, “There are six MPs in our party. It was the desire of five MPs to save our party. So, I have not split the party, I have saved it. Chirag Paswan is my nephew as well as party’s national president. I have no objections to him.”

However, Paras’s move comes before a cabinet expansion in the union government. This could have been a negotiating tack used by Paras to seek a ministership. The man who has lost it all is Chirag Paswan.

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