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Paras faction names him LJP chief, Chirag Paswan moves EC over party’s symbol
The Paras faction of the party “removed” Chirag Paswan from the president’s post on Tuesday, and appointed a loyalist, Suraj Bhan Singh as working president.
The bitter power struggle for control of Bihar’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) escalated on Thursday as rebel MP Pashupati Kumar Paras was unanimously elected as the new national president by his faction, even as the group headed by his nephew and MP Chirag Paswan approached the Election Commission in New Delhi to stop Paras from using the party’s symbol and flag in its meeting.
Chirag Paswan also declared that he has convened a meeting of the party’s national executive committee on Sunday, rejecting his uncle’s election as the party president.
Paswan, according to news agency PTI, insisted that the meeting held in Patna was “unconstitutional” and lacked a quorum.
The Paras faction of the party “removed” Chirag Paswan from the president’s post on Tuesday, and appointed a loyalist, Suraj Bhan Singh as working president.
On Thursday, Singh announced that 68-year-old Paras was the party’s new president.
“I will try to take the party forward by taking all sections of the society together,” Paras told reporters in Patna soon after his faction named him the new party chief.
The crisis in the LJP began on Sunday, when five LJP Lok Sabha members replaced Chirag Paswan with Paras.
On Monday, the Lok Sabha secretariat issued a notification recognising Paras as the parliamentary party chief.
Paras blamed his nephew for the family feud.
“When a nephew becomes dictator, what will the uncle do,” he said, rubbishing Paswan’s insistence earlier that he could not be removed as the party chief.
Paras said nobody can be the party president for life in a democratic system.
“The president has to be elected after a period. According to the constitution of our party, the president has to be elected every 2-3 years,” he said.
Chirag Paswan’s last-minute move to convene a meeting of the national executive is seen as a show of strength to counter the perception that he, after losing control of the parliamentary party, had lost the support of the executive as well. A LJP leader said Paswan could also use the proceedings of the proposed meeting on Sunday to back up its case before the Election Commission.
LJP’s secretary general Abdul Khaliq said a physical meeting of its national executive will be held in the national capital on Sunday to reiterate Paswan’s earlier election as its national president.
Patna high court lawyer Amit Shrivastava said as and when the dispute formally reaches the Election Commission, the panel would be guided by the LJP constitution.
“The provisions and clauses in the LJP’s party constitution will be the determining factor in deciding whether any decision regarding appointment or termination of membership taken by the party top leaders is right or wrong, if any of the parties move court. The LJP is a recognised party by the Election Commission and is guided by the party constitution,” said Shrivastava.
