"Every father wants it (son Chirag Paswan to become a union minister)," said Ram Vilas Paswan (PTI File)
Newly-elected Bihar lawmaker Chirag Paswan said on Tuesday that he would not be a minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new government; his father Ram Vilas Paswan would continue to be in the cabinet. Ram Vilas Paswan, who did not contest the election, had said he would like his son to be a minister this time.
"I want to categorically say this. The Lok Janshakti Party will be represented in the cabinet by Ram Vilas Paswan. I will only be leading the party in the Lok Sabha. I will not be in the cabinet," Chirag Paswan, 36, told NDTV.
The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) won all six seats it had contested in Bihar in the national election.
Ram Vilas Paswan, who did not contest the polls this time after being assured a Rajya Sabha seat, had implied that his son would be a minister in the new Modi cabinet. Chirag Paswan won for the second time from the Jamui seat in Bihar.
"Every father wants it. Why wouldn't I want it (his son to become a union minister)? Yes, I want it... The (LPJ's) parliamentary board chairman is Chirag Paswan. He will himself decide who will join the Modi cabinet from our party," Ram Vilas Paswan had told NDTV.
Paswan Junior confirmed that he was more interested in leading his party in the Bihar polls in 2020. Asked about his father's wish, he said: "#Ram Vilas Ji made these comments as a father, they should only be seen as that."
On how his party could be any different from the Congress in promoting dynastic politics, Chirag Paswan said: "Dynasty alone will not work, there has to be caliber... people want a promising leader, son or not... look at Misa Bharti". He was referring to the oldest daughter of RJD politician Lalu Yadav, who lost the election.
Asked whether he had any advice for rival Tejashwi Yadav, the son of Lalu Yadav, Chirag Paswan, a former film actor, grinned: "My younger brother needs all the luck."
Tejashwi Yadav, the younger son of Lalu Yadav, led the RJD to a wipeout in Bihar in the national election, leaving his father in shock.