Paras is new LJP chief, announces his faction; Paswan trashes move

Relations between LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan’s brother, Pashupati Kumar Paras, and son Chirag Paswan nosedived when LJP decided to contest against the BJP-JD(U) alliance in Bihar despite being in the NDA

PATNA: The bitter power struggle for control of Bihar’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) escalated on Thursday as the faction led by Hajipur MP Pashupati Kumar Paras was named the party chief by his faction in Patna while his nephew and Jamui MP Chirag Paswan’s faction rushed to the Election Commission in Delhi to stop Paras from using the LJP symbol and flag at their meetings.

Pashupati Kumar Paras was felicitated at the party office in Patna after his faction announced his election as the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) new national president (HT Photo/Santosh Kumar)

Chirag Paswan also declared that he has convened a meeting of the party’s national executive committee on Sunday, his counter to Paras who was said to have been unanimously elected the party’s national president by the national executive a few hours earlier. Paswan, according to news agency PTI, insisted that the meeting held in Patna was “unconstitutional” and lacked a quorum.

The Paras faction of the party “removed” Chirag Paswan from the president’s post on Tuesday, and appointed a loyalist, Suraj Bhan Singh as working president. On Thursday, Singh announced that 68-year-old Paras was the party’s new president.

“I will try to take the party forward by taking all sections of the society together,” Paras told reporters in Patna soon after his faction named him the new party chief.

The crisis in the LJP began on Sunday, when five LJP Lok Sabha members replaced Chirag Paswan with Paras. On Monday, the Lok Sabha secretariat issued a notification recognising Paras as the parliamentary party chief.

Paras blamed his nephew for the family feud. “When a nephew becomes dictator, what will the uncle do,” he said, rubbishing Paswan’s insistence earlier that he could not be removed as the party chief.

Paras said nobody can be the party president for life in a democratic system. “The president has to be elected after a period. According to the constitution of our party, the president has to be elected every 2-3 years,” he said.

Chirag Paswan’s last-minute move to convene a meeting of the national executive is seen as a show of strength to counter the perception that he, after losing control of the parliamentary party, had lost the support of the executive as well. A LJP leader said Paswan could also use the proceedings of the proposed meeting on Sunday to back up its case before the Election Commission.

Patna high court lawyer Amit Shrivastava said as and when the dispute formally reaches the Election Commission, the panel would be guided by the LJP constitution.

“The provisions and clauses in the LJP’s party constitution will be the determining factor in deciding whether any decision regarding appointment or termination of membership taken by the party top leaders is right or wrong, if any of the parties move court. The LJP is a recognised party by the Election Commission and is guided by the party constitution,” said Shrivastava.