After embarking on his Aashirwad yatra from Hajipur on July 5, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader and MP Chirag Paswan on Tuesday said he would go to court if his uncle and expelled party leader Pashupati Kumar Paras was inducted into the Union Cabinet. Mr. Paswan also slammed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s government in Bihar and said the “countdown of this government has begun”.
Amid reports that Mr Paras, who leads the LJP rebel faction will be joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet on July 8, Mr. Paswan said, “Making him a Union minister on LJP quota is not possible as the party’s executive board has expelled him. I’ve informed PM through letter. If he is appointed minister as MP of my party, I’ll move to court but I’ve no problem if he is appointed as minister at the Center as an Independent MP or from JD(U) after joining it.” He was addressing media persons at his residence in Patna.
Earlier on July 5, Mr. Paswan was accorded a rousing welcome by party leaders and workers when he visited Patna and Hajipur to kick off his Aashirwad Yatra. Projecting himself as rightful political heir of his father and founder of the party, Ram Vilas Paswan, Mr. Paswan had said those who rebelled against the party were guilty of “betrayal”.
Predicting the end of the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, Mr Paswan said the first breakdown will occur in JD(U) after the Cabinet expansion at the Centre.
“Mark my words, the countdown of this government has begun. JD(U) politicians should pray that the Cabinet expansion does not take place otherwise the first breakdown will occur in the party,” Mr. Paswan said.
Earlier in June, five of the LJP’s six MPs, led by the Hajipur MP, Mr Paras, had rebelled and claimed to be original LJP. The rebel MPs also elected Mr Paras as party president and voted him as their parliamentary party leader in the Lok Sabha. Mr Paswan had opposed the claim and expelled all five rebels from the party. He is locked in fierce tussle with his uncle to regain command of the party.
JD(U) prospects
Meanwhile, when asked about how many JD(U) leaders would be inducted into the Union Cabinet, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said though he has no idea of any formula, “whatever the respected Prime Minister decides, we’ll accept”.
“Our party president R.C.P. Singh is in Delhi and he has been authorised to finalise everything with the BJP,” added Mr. Kumar.
Earlier in 2019, the JD(U) had opted to stay out of Union Cabinet demanding “proportional representation of NDA allies, instead of symbolic representation”. When reminded about this, Mr Kumar said, “Jo hua so hua…us samay main party president tha (what happened, has happened… at that time I was the party president)” but “in today’s context it is nothing special”.