It’s often said that there is no permanent friend or enemy in politics. It holds true in most senses in Indian politics. Political leaders and parties keep switching sides in Indian politics irrespective of ideology as per their convenience. The two largest parties in India- the BJP and the Congress are well aware of this. Thus, sensing discontent within the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Congress-led INDIA bloc is attempting a coup in Bihar ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha Elections 2024.
Wooing Chirag Paswan
According to a report by the NDTV, the INDIA alliance – constituting of Congress and Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal – has strategically manoeuvred on the political chessboard by extending an offer to the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan. The proposal by the INDIA bloc involves allocating eight Lok Sabha seats in Bihar and two in Uttar Pradesh to the LJP-RV. The offer came amid reports that the NDA has offered just six seats to Chirag Paswan, with the added complication of having to share those seats with his uncle, Pashupati Paras, the chief of Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party.
Seats On Offer To Chirag Paswan
The INDIA bloc’s eight-seat offer includes all six seats that the undivided Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) contested in 2019 and won. The icing on the cake is the offer of two additional constituencies each in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The six seats that the undivided LJP won in 2019 are Nawada, Jamui, Khagaria, Hajipur, Samastipur and Vaishali.
Split In LJP
The Lok Janshakti Party, founded by the late Ram Vilas Paswan, split in 2021 after his death. Ram Vilas Paswan’s brother Pashupati Paras led a coup after the former’s demise. The Election Commission gave Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party name to Paras while LJP-Ram Vilas went to Chirag Paswan. Since then, Paras and Chirag have strained relationship. This happened after Chirag Paswan contested the 2020 Bihar assembly polls against Nitish Kumar who was part of the NDA. While Chirag kept attacking Nitish Kumar, he refrained from targeting the BJP while calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi his Ram.
After Nitish quit the NDA and joined the Congress-RJD-led Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, Chirag returned to the NDA. However, tensions have been building under the surface since Nitish returned to the NDA once again in January this year. Chirag has yet not resolved his differences with Uncle Paras and has maintained that he will continue to criticise Nitish Kumar over governance issues. This further makes Chirag Paswan’s NDA sojourn a bit difficult.
Chirag Boost For INDIA?
Chirag Paswan had already met and held talks with the RJD last after exiting the NDA. If Chirag Paswan agrees to join the Congress-led INDIA bloc, it will give a boost to the opposition alliance setting the stage for the Paswan (LJP-RV) vs Paras (RLJP) battle in Bihar. It will also give a moral victory to the INDIA bloc which has just witnessed the exits of two key allies – Nitish Kumar’s JDU in Bihar and Jayant Chaudhary’s RLD in Uttar Pradesh. Chirag’s late father Ram Vilas Paswan was often called the weatherman of Indian politics for his keen nose for sensing victory and public perception ahead of the poll results. It would be interesting to see whether Chirag also possesses the same ability or not as he has made an extensive tour of the state in the last few years.