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Chirag Paswan to become Bihar deputy CM? LJP(RV) scores big, has ‘expectations’ from NDA
Chirag was asked about claiming the deputy CM post, earlier in the week, and he said he said his party would make the claim if the NDA got a decisive mandate
Union minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) or LJP(RV) has emerged as the fourth largest party in Bihar's 2025 assembly election results — third within the NDA after the BJP and JD(U) — as trends were solidifying by 2.30 pm on November 14. This ignited the question whether Chirag would want the deputy CM's post, while Nitish Kumar of the JD(U) looked set to assume the top post a ninth time.
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Chirag was asked about claiming the deputy CM post, earlier in the week, and he said he said his party would make the claim if the NDA secured a decisive mandate.
Not only was the NDA headed towards a historic mandate — with nearly 200 leads or wins in a House of 243 — but the LJP(RV) was winning more than 20 of the 29 seats he was allotted as part of the alliance.
“I have always believed that my strike rate has been close to 100 per cent, and I expect the same this time,” Chirag Paswan had told India Today, linking this performance to expecting a deputy chief minister post.
"I believe there should be respect in an alliance. If your partners are performing well they should be rewarded," Chirag Paswan said.
On whether he would personally take up the post, Chirag had clarified, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already entrusted me with significant responsibilities at the Centre. Food processing has enormous potential, and I want to strengthen this ministry further.”
“Right now, I would not take the deputy CM post. But, yes, some leader from my party would definitely assume it if we win,” he added.
The results are proving to be a big comeback at the state level for the LJP(RV). In 2020, Chirag had chosen to not align with the NDA, or anyone else for that matter, and got just one seat while contesting over 130.
This time, when his party got 29 seats to contest from the NDA, other allies did not particularly agree.
Throughout, whether he was within the NDA or not, Chirag, 43, has consistently professed love for PM Narendra Modi and the BJP. He had said his main issue was with Nitish Kumar in 2020. His vote share, scattered but significant, was widely seen as a reason why the JD(U) had a poor strike rate in 2020.
Between then and now, the LJP established by his late father Ram Vilas Paswan was split, with his uncle Pashupati Nath Paras going into the Modi camp. By the 2024 Lok Sabha election, things turned around. Chirag was back in the BJP-led NDA fold, won a Lok Sabha seat, and became minister in Modi's third term as PM.
The rift with Nitish, 74, who was once his father's socialist colleague, is a headline he has been avoiding.
He was also asked if he would come to state politics at some point, to which he said that would happen “by 2030”. His father had mostly remained in national politics.
