Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan on Saturday paid a backhanded compliment to estranged uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, by congratulating him on joining the union cabinet, which he said was a goal he achieved by breaking up his own family.
The beleaguered LJP leader, who has suffered a setback with the Delhi High Court rejecting his petition challenging the election of Mr Paras as the party leader in the Lok Sabha, made it clear I am not going to give up my fight to reclaim the party nurtured by my late father Ram Vilas Paswan's blood and sweat.
In an oblique reference to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who he suspects of engineering the putsch in the LJP, Mr Chirag said I cannot allow the party to be taken over by those, who because of personal ambitions, are sitting in the lap of people who did not deign to come out with even a tweet on my father's birth anniversary recently.
The Jamui MP also hinted at his disillusionment with the BJP which has kept silent over the crisis in his party despite his unreserved adulation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
When asked by reporters whether he still considered himself a Hanuman to PM Modi, akin to the relationship between the monkey god and Lord Ram, Mr Paswan cryptically replied this is a question you need to ask when elections are round the corner.
The 38-year-old, who has been reaching out to the family of his late father from the first marriage, also said, "I feel overwhelmed by emotions. After the death of my father and the betrayal of my family members many other dear relatives have come out with support."
In the state since Monday as part of his ashirwad yatra, Mr Chirag had paid visits to his step-sisters besides his stepmother in his native district of Khagaria, in a charm offensive to win over his close relations. The former Bollywood actor has in the past been accused of condescension towards them.
I am not a legal expert. So I will not comment much upon the Delhi High Court order until a meeting with my legal team in the national capital. But I am not going to give up, he asserted.
After making his political debut in the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, Chirag succeeded his father as LJP national president five years later. He opened a front against Nitish Kumar ahead of the assembly polls last year, claiming that the people of the state wanted a change in leadership and he was helping the BJP form its own government.
The BJP, which had backed Mr Kumar for a fourth consecutive term, distanced itself from Chirag's politics of brinkmanship. It, however, ended up benefiting from the melee as it returned with a tally much higher than that of JD(U),for the first time.
Mr Paras, along with four other party MPs, staged a political coup last month when they broke away voicing disapproval of Chirag's stance towards the JD(U).
Mr Paras replaced Chirag as the party's leader in the Lok Sabha and was elected national president of the breakaway faction.
The uncle and the nephew seem poised for a long legal and political battle with the former appearing to have the cadres support but the latter capturing the public imagination as the heir to Ram Vilas Paswan, one of the tallest Dalit leaders of his generation.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chirag Paswan Reclaims Bungalow Occupied By Uncle Pashupati Paras Uncle Pashupati Paras Evicted From Home, Chirag Paswan Has The Last Laugh On Quota For Dalit Sub-Categories, Chirag Paswan's Reservations Emergency Landing, Fliers Stuck For 3 Days In Phuket; Air India Responds Explained: Why Delhi's AQI Was 494 Today But International Monitor Said 1,600 Putin Responds To Biden's Missile Approval By Changing Nuclear Doctrine Air India Flight From Paris Diverted To Jaipur, Fliers Sent To Delhi On Bus Jharkhand High Court Recruitment 2024: Registration Begins For District Judge Posts Over 200 Children Killed In Lebanon Amid Israel-Hezbollah Conflict: UN Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.