The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday ended a long-running fight between factions of the Lok Janshakti Party and did not allow the use of the party’s name and its symbol in the October 30 Bihar Assembly bypolls for two seats. Gave. While the son of late Ram Vilas Paswan and Jamui MP Chirag Paswan Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) was allotted with helicopter as election symbol, Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras was renamed Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) with sewing machine as its symbol.
The Election Commission rejected the LJP (Ram Vilas Paswan) as it was the first choice of both the groups. Earlier, the Election Commission had issued orders to both the groups not to use LJP and its symbol in the upcoming bypolls. Being a part of NDA, Paras is not fielding any candidate in the by-election.
LJP (Ram Vilas) chief general secretary Abdul Khaliq said, “We are happy with the name of the new party as it includes our old name and the name of our founder. Our next target is to contest and win both the seats.” Party’s national spokesperson Ajay Kunar Pandey said: “Chirag Paswan asked Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to stop Pashupati Kumar Paras and four other MPs from using LJP’s name. He has also asked for change of name in the website of Lok Sabha and other government records.
Meanwhile, RLSP spokesperson Shravan Agarwal said they have sought additional time from the Election Commission to give a second and third option for the party’s name and symbol. “Even though we did not get the name of Ram Vilas Paswan, we are carrying forward his legacy, although Chirag is not working for the cause of Dalits.”
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