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

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 )

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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.

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.