Chirag Paswan's LJP(RV) makes big impact as NDA gains strength across Bihar

Chirag consistently professed love for PM Modi, and said his main issue was with Nitish in 2020; this time he got 29 seats to contest as part of NDA

Updated on: Nov 14, 2025, 13:30:20 IST

By Aarish Chhabra

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Union minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) or LJP(RV) is set for a big comeback at the state level in Bihar, as part of the NDA along with the BJP and JD(U). Chirag had chosen to not align with the NDA, or anyone else for that matter, in the 2020 election, got just one seat.

Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan during an election rally in Bihar. (X/@LJP4India )

Live updates | Bihar election results 2025

This time, his party got 29 seats to contest as part of the NDA — a number other allies did not particularly like — and his LJP(RV) was leading on 22 seats, as of 1.30 pm, November 14. The NDA overall had crossed 190 in the 243-seat House in result trends.

Also read | ‘I love PM Modi a bit too much’: Chirag Paswan rules out post-poll change of heart in Bihar

Chirag, 43, has consistently professed love for PM Narendra Modi and the BJP, and said his main issue was with Nitish Kumar in 2020. His vote share was widely seen as a reason why the JD(U) had a poor strike rate in 2020.

Things moved quickly from then on. The original LJP established by his late father Ram Vilas Paswan was split with his uncle Pashupati Nath Paras. By the 2024 Lok Sabha election, 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 not a headline he's been chasing lately.

He was asked if he would come to state politics at some point, to which he said that would happen “by 2030”. He also underlined that his father, minister in various central governments, had mostly remained in national politics. But Chirag has not made up his mind either way yet.

The numbers now show Nitish is a dominant factor. But Chirag might see himself as the future even more now.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aarish Chhabra
Aarish Chhabra is an Associate Editor with the Hindustan Times online team, writing news reports and explanatory articles, besides overseeing coverage for the website. His career spans nearly two decades across India's most respected newsrooms in print, digital, and broadcast. He has reported, written, and edited across formats — from breaking news and live election coverage, to analytical long-reads and cultural commentary — building a body of work that reflects both editorial rigour and a deep curiosity about the society he writes for. Aarish studied English literature, sociology and history, besides journalism, at Panjab University, Chandigarh, and started his career in that city, eventually moving to Delhi. He is also the author of ‘The Big Small Town: How Life Looks from Chandigarh’, a collection of critical essays originally serialised as a weekly column in the Hindustan Times, examining the culture and politics of a city that is far more than its famous architecture — and, in doing so, holding up a mirror to modern India. In stints at the BBC, The Indian Express, NDTV, and Jagran New Media, he worked across formats and languages; mainly English, also Hindi and Punjabi. He was part of the crack team for the BBC Explainer project replicated across the world by the broadcaster. At Jagran, he developed editorial guides and trained journalists on integrity and content quality. He has also worked at the intersection of journalism and education. At the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, he developed a website that simplified academic research in management. At Bennett University's Times School of Media in Noida, he taught students the craft of digital journalism: from newsgathering and writing, to social media strategy and video storytelling. Having moved from a small town to a bigger town to a mega city for education and work, his intellectual passions lie at the intersection of society, politics, and popular culture — a perspective that informs both his writing and his view of the world. When not working, he is constantly reading long-form journalism or watching brainrot content, sometimes both at the same time.Read More

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