Chirag says will field mother from late father’s Hajipur Lok Sabha seat in 2024
Chirag had earlier said that he considers Hajipur as his “mother”, and that in the absence of his father, he would like to take care of the constituency the same way his father did
The power tussle between the two Lok Janshakti Party factions – LJP (Ram Vilas) and Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) – continues to get murkier by the day as Chirag Paswan of LJP (Ram Vilas) has now said that his mother will contest from the contentious Hajipur Lok Sabha seat in Bihar next year, a constituency represented by his late father Ram Vilas Paswan nine times.
Chirag made the announcement in Jamui, his parliamentary constituency, on Tuesday night.
“I cannot disappoint the people of Jamui... I am paving the way for Maa (mother Reena Paswan) to fight from the Hajipur constituency so that I can continue with Jamui. But one thing is certain that the LJP-R will fight from both Hajipur and Jamui,” Chirag told reporters.
However, he was not sure if his mother would agree to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. “If Maa does not agree to fight from Hajipur, then we will accept the decision the party’s parliamentary board takes. But I am trying that my relationship with Jamui remain constant,” he said.
Chirag had earlier said that he considers Hajipur as his “mother”, and that in the absence of his father, he would like to take care of the constituency the same way his father did.
The RLJP, meanwhile, was puzzled by Chirag’s claims. “Let the NDA alliance partners meeting decide on the seats. Only then can one stake claim to a particular seat. Chirag Paswan seems to be lacking confidence to contest from Jamui again and his statement is self-contradictory as he talks about ‘alliance dharma’ but at the same time is showing intentions to contest from Hajipur Lok Sabha seat,” RLJP spokesperson Shrawan Agarwal said.
Chirag’s estranged uncle and Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras fought from the Hajipur seat in the 2019 elections and won. In 2019, the united LJP won six Lok Sabha seats in Bihar as an NDA ally. The party split after Ram Vilas Paswan’s demise in 2020, and Paras now heads the RLJP.
However, both LJP and RLJP are partners in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party.