LJP MPs, seeking to replace Chirag Paswan, to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla today

As many as five out of six LJP members at the Lok Sabha have joined hands intending to replace Chirag Paswan with his uncle, Pashupati Kumar Paras, as the party's leader in the upper house of the Parliament.

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) party members, seeking to replace Chirag Paswan as the leader of the Parliamentary Party, will be meeting Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla at 3pm on this day, reported news agency ANI on Monday, citing people familiar with the development. As many as five out of six LJP members at the Lok Sabha have joined hands intending to replace Chirag Paswan with his uncle, Pashupati Kumar Paras, as the party's leader in the upper house of the Parliament. LJP members have reportedly not been happy with Chirag Paswan's work ever since party founder Ram Vilas Paswan's demise.

Lok Janshakti Party national president Chirag Paswan. (File Photo)

In his statement to the media, Pashupati Kumar Paras said that he did not break the party but he "saved" it. "There are six MPs in our party. It was the desire of five MPs to save our party," Paras said while addressing mediapersons in Patna, adding, "I have not broken the party but saved it."

Pashupati Kumar Paras reiterated that he has nothing against his nephew and that it was the collective desire of LJP party members to make the organisation strong in Bihar. The change was not done out of revenge but out of ‘majboori’ or a compulsion to correct the course of the party while staying in the NDA, he told HT. “Yah majboori ka faisla hai. (This is a decision taken out of compulsion). We were feeling suffocated,” Hajipur MP and brother of the late union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Pashupati Kumar Paras told Hindustan Times.

When asked if the Hajipur MP has decided to merge LJP with ruling Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) in Bihar, Paras said, "This is 100% wrong. LJP is our party, the organisation is strong in Bihar." Paras also praised Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, describing him as 'Vikas Purush'. So far, there has been no comment from Chirag Paswan, who has not been keeping well. He took over the party after the death of his father Ram Vilas Paswan in 2020.