Pashupati Paras resigns from Modi cabinet after NDA, Chirag Paswan seal Bihar deal: ‘Injustice’

Pashupati Kumar Paras resigned from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet after RLJP did not receive any seat allocations in the Lok Sabha elections in Bihar.

Updated on: Mar 19, 2024, 12:23:59 IST

By HT News Desk

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Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras resigned from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet on Tuesday after his party, the RLJP, did not get any seat allocations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Bihar. The move comes after the National Democratic Alliance's seat-sharing with his nephew Chirag Paswan of the LJP (Ram Vilas) on Monday.

“Yesterday, the NDA announced the list of 40 candidates for Bihar Lok Sabha...Our party had five MPs and I worked with utmost sincerity...Injustice has been done with us and our party. Therefore, I resign from the post of Union minister,” Pashupati Kumar Paras said at a press conference.

Pashupati Kumar Paras made brief remarks about his resignation and did not elaborate on his future plans. The only ally in the Union cabinet headed by Modi, he called the prime minister a big leader.

Pashupati Kumar Paras said he was thankful to Modi before expressing his displeasure over the treatment meted out to him. He said he had served the NDA with honesty and loyalty but received injustice.

The NDA finalised its seat-sharing formula in Bihar for Lok Sabha elections, announcing the Bharatiya Janata Party will contest 17 constituencies, the JD(U) 16 and Chirag Paswan's LJP (Ram Vilas) five, while rebuffing the claims of the LJP faction led by Pashupati Kumar Paras.

Two other NDA allies – Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Upendra Kushwaha-led Rashtriya Lok Morcha – will contest one seat each, Vinod Tawde, the BJP's in-charge for elections in Bihar, told a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi.

This will be the first time the BJP has got more seats than chief minister Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) in Bihar, underscoring the change in their equations after they joined hands recently. Tawde expressed confidence that the National Democratic Alliance will win all 40 seats in the state. It had bagged 39 seats in 2019.

"The BJP will contest 17 out of the total 40 seats and the JD(U) will contest 16. The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will contest five seats," Tawde told the presser jointly addressed by NDA allies from the state.

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