Bihar Assembly election 2020: Chirag Paswan trying to mislead people by taking names of senior BJP leaders, says Prakash Javadekar

Ahead of the Bihar Assembly election 2020, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday slammed Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president Chirag Paswan. The Union Minister said that Chirag is trying to mislead the people of Bihar by taking names of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Javadekar also said that Chirag has chosen a separate path in Bihar, adding that the LJP will be left as a vote cutter party. He also stressed that the BJP doesn't have any B or C team. Javadekar also stated that the NDA will get a three-fourth majority in the Bihar election.

"Chirag Paswan has chosen a separate path in Bihar, he is trying to mislead people by taking names of senior BJP leaders. We don't have any B or C team. NDA will get a three-fourth majority. Chirag's party will be left as a vote cutter party," said Javadekar.

On October 15, Chirag trashed suggestions that he parted ways with Nitish Kumar's JD(U) because of differences over seat-sharing for the Bihar assembly polls, and accused the chief minister of harming the Dalit community by creating a sub-group of Mahadalits. Paswan said his party had fought the Lok Sabha polls last year in alliance with the JD(U) because of the "compulsions" brought on by the return to the NDA of Kumar, whose party he accused of working against LJP candidates in the general elections in violation of the coalition dharma.

The 37-year-old, who recently lost his father Ram Vilas Paswan, the charismatic LJP founder, also alleged that Kumar had behaved "haughtily" when the late Union minister had called on him last year with the request to accompany him for filing nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha. Paswan Sr. Was a Rajya Sabha member and Union minister at the time of his death.

"I met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J P Nadda so many times in the recent past. Not once did the issue of seat-sharing crop up," Chirag Paswan told PTI-Bhasha in an interview, rubbishing suggestions that he raised a banner of revolt against the JD(U) after the latter tried to deny his party a fair share of seats.

"It must be kept in mind that the LJP has never been a fan of Nitish Kumars style of politics. He has harmed the Dalits by creating a sub-group of Mahadalits for his own political gains," he said.

Chirag, who has to carry forward the impressive political legacy of his father, the tallest Dalit leader in Bihar since the redoubtable Jagjivan Ram, was bitter about how Kumar treated the LJP founder.

"Nitish Kumar remarked mockingly that my father could not have got elected to the Rajya Sabha without the JD (U)s support since we had only two MLAs. He should remember that my father was promised a Rajya Sabha berth by the then BJP chief Amit Shah himself," he said.

"And I felt so belittled when Nitish behaved in a haughty manner when my father called on him with the request that he accompany us for filing of nomination papers. He came only after the mahurat (auspicious timing) decided for the occasion had passed. No son could have taken such a treatment lying down," he said.

The LJP chief also rubbished the chief ministers saat nishchay (seven resolves) for public welfare, saying while the rest of the country was making so much progress, he was still talking about piped water and construction of concrete roads and alleys.

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Earlier, in an open letter written to BJP president JP Nadda, Chirag recounted instances where Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar allegedly insulted his father Ram Vilas Paswan. The letter was written to Nadda on September 24 and was released by the LJP on October 8. 

In the letter, Chirag claimed that there is a wave against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar that could result in the loss of the ruling alliance in the state assembly polls. He also stated that the Bihar CM insulted his father Ram Vilas Paswan for a Rajya Sabha seat despite public assurance by top NDA leaders. He said the JD(U) president had expressed his ignorance of the LJP's founder ill-health at a time when even Prime Minister Narendra Modi frequently calls him to enquire about his health.