Chirag Paswan assured of 1 Cabinet post, hopeful of state minister berth too
Chirag Paswan refused to comment saying the decision on who will be in the Union Cabinet will be solely of Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) or LJP-RV, which was assured of one berth in the Union Cabinet, was hopeful of getting one state minister berth as well. “We are assured of one berth. A minister of state would be a huge bonus,” said a LJP-RV functionary on condition of anonymity.
Paswan refused to comment saying the decision on who will be in the Cabinet will be solely of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has maintained he does not believe in the politics of bargain and will continue to support Modi. “My chief minister [Nitish Kumar] strongly stands with the NDA [National Democratic Alliance] like a rock. NDA stands united. Nitish Kumar has played an important role in our performance as an alliance. We have handled Bihar very well and Nitish Kumar has a big role to play,” Paswan said after meeting Kumar.
Paswan, who has described himself as Modi’s “Hanuman”, thanked people for the victory on all five seats LJP-RV contested. “People of Bihar have trusted our party and given us a mandate... We promise to fulfil our responsibilities. Modi showed his faith in a party with a single MP [member of Parliament] and gave us five seats and we won all of them.”
The BJP’s inability to win a majority on its own means it will depend on the support of allies to form the next government. The NDA is comfortably above the majority mark (272) in the 543-member Lok Sabha. The BJP has fallen short of the halfway mark for the first time since 2014. The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance won 233 seats.