Chirag welcome to NDA but no merger of LJP factions till he apologises: Paras

Pashupati Paras claimed that Chirag Paswan had returned to the NDA only after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took permission from him

Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party (LGP) (Nationalist) leader Pashupati Paras on Tuesday dismissed the rumours of his party merging with the LJP (Ram Vilas) faction headed by Jamui member of Parliament (MP) Chirag Paswan and said the latter will have to make a public apology over his decision to fight the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections alone for any rapprochement between the two. He, however, added that anything can happen in future and said he did not have any problem with Chirag returning to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold.

Pashupati Paras (left) and Chirag Paswan (right) (File Photos)

“Chirag Paswan may have returned to the NDA, but that does not mean that we have forgiven him or are willing to merge our party with the LJP (R). But for the rapprochement to take place, Chirag will have to atone and make public apology over his decision to fight 2020 Bihar Assembly election alone,” Paras told media persons at the party office in Patna.

Paras claimed that Chirag had returned to the NDA only after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took permission from him. “I welcome Chirag’s party into the NDA, but it was BJP leader Nityanand Rai who spoke to me regarding taking back Chirag into the NDA. It was after I gave my approval that Chirag campaigned for the BJP in Mokama and Gopalganj by-elections”.

“The NDA is a very big alliance. Whichever party joins the NDA it will strengthen the alliance further,” he said. “The BJP works to give equal respect to all the parties. The BJP has always given due respect to the alliance partners and in 2014, when I was the state president of the LJP, I was the first to talk about going with the NDA and since then till date, we have strongly remained with the NDA alliance and as long as I am alive my full strength will be devoted to strengthen the NDA. For that matter, any other party including Chirag Paswan will strengthen the NDA,” he said.

Asked about the possibility of a rapprochement between the two LJP factions, Paras said, “It is a matter of future and it is difficult to predict. But anything can happen.”

Paras also rejected reports of Chirag contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Hajipur, which he represents in the Lok Sabha.

“Chirag will contest from Jamui from where he is a MP presently. How can he contest from Hajipur? I am a sitting MP from Hajipur and will again fight elections from the same seat in 2024. Chirag may be the heir of Ram Vilas Paswan’s wealth, but I am the heir of his political legacy”, said Paras, also the younger brother of Ram Vilas Paswan.

There was no immediate reaction from Chirag Paswan on the comments of Paras.

The LJP (National) has five members in the Lok Sabha from Bihar. The erstwhile LJP had won six seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Bihar. But after a split in the LJP, five MPs went with Paras-led LJP (National), while Ram Vilas Paswan’s only son Chirag Paswan remained the lone MP of the LJP (Ram Vilas).