E-Paper
HT Interview: ‘The promises made to Bihar were not kept,’ says Chirag Paswan
Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan says Bihar is facing dual challenges of the unprecedented Covid-19 outbreak and the annual flood fury that have affected a lot of people.
Chirag Paswan, Lok Janshakti Party president and MP from Bihar’s Jamui constituency, is vocal in his criticism of the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government, even though it is a part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA). In an interview to Smriti Kak Ramachhandran, he said he conveyed his concerns about holding elections to the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the NDA. Edited excerpts:
Your party is a part of the NDA. Yet, there seems to be a disconnect between the LJP and the Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), and disagreements on some issues.
There is a lot of disagreement between the LJP and JD(U). The basis of my disagreement is that a lot of promises were made to Bihar that were not delivered. Consider the present scenario. Bihar is facing dual challenges of the unprecedented Covid-19 outbreak and the annual flood fury that have affected a lot of people. It is a matter of grave concern the way the state machinery is working. I expected my chief minister and my government to perform better and to deliver more, but he (Kumar) disappointed us all.
What has disappointed you the most?
The day the migrant worker crisis started I expected the government to help them and not leave them to die on highways. I expected that buses would be sent to ferry them back home, as was done by Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath. I don’t know if any direct benefit transfer was done because a lot of people whom I met don’t seem to have received any. But the biggest issue right now is the way our government is playing with the lives of the Biharis. A few days ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with a few CMs through a video-conference. Soon after the meeting the PM tweeted some states are required to improve their testing records and Bihar topped the list. On that day, though about 75,000 tests were conducted, the PM said categorically that there is a need to improve. This implies that something is wrong somewhere. What is also going wrong is that until now about 90% of the testing is being done through the rapid antigen detection (RAD) test, which even the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said should only be conducted in Covid-19 containment zones or during emergencies in hospitals. So not only are we not testing enough, but we are also not doing it the right way.
In such a scenario, are you willing to be a part of the NDA?
At present, I am not even thinking about elections; I don’t understand how my CM is thinking about elections at a time when 18 districts are flooded and Covid-19 cases are increasing by leaps and bounds on a daily basis.
You have said this to the ECI, but have you mentioned this to the BJP or raised it at an NDA meeting?
At a meeting with BJP national president JP Nadda a few weeks ago, I mentioned this to him. I had said our priority should be to control the pandemic and we should not be thinking about the elections.
So will you participate, if the ECI decides to hold the polls on schedule?
The call has to be taken only by the ECI. And if that happens, then we will participate because we are prepared for the elections but we would prefer not to hold them now. As a head of a political party, it is my responsibility to give a correct picture about the state of affairs to the ECI. Political parties are not meant to only contest elections -- to win or strategise. We have a much bigger social responsibility as well.
