"Paving Way For 'Maa' To Fight From Hajipur": Chirag Paswan On 2024 Polls

 Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) Chief Chirag Paswan on Tuesday said that he is paving the way for his mother to fight the Lok Sabha election from Bihar's Hajipur constituency.

"I cannot disappoint the people of Jamui (Chirag Paswan's parliamentary constituency), but I cannot assure you about whatever the condition is going to be. However, I am paving the way for Maa to fight from the Hajipur constituency so that I can continue with Jamui. But this is for sure that the LJP (Ram Vilas) will fight from both Hajipur and Jamui", Mr Paswan said while speaking to reporters in Bihar's Jamui.

"If Maa does not get ready to fight from Hajipur, then we will accept the decision taken by the party's parliamentary board. But I am trying that my relationship with Jamui remains constant", he added.

The LJP Chief further said, "I came to Jamui as a son, but will leave from here as an elderly".

The Lok Sabha polls are scheduled to be held in 2024.

It is worth mentioning that Chirag Paswan's father and founder of the LJP, Ram Vilas Paswan represented the Hajipur constituency.

However, post-Ram Vilas's demise in 2020, the LJP got bifurcated in 2021 owing to inner conflicts leading to the formation of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) (Ram Vilas) and Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP).

The LJP is currently headed by Chirag Paswan and the RLJP is headed by Ram Vilas Paswan's brother and Union Minister, Pasupati Kumar Paras.

Both parties are partners in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) bloc, headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Meanwhile, Pasupati Kumar Paras has also been reiterating his claims on the Hajipur constituency.

In an apparent dig at his nephew Chirag Paswan, RLJP Chief Paras earlier said that Chirag should contest from the seat where the late Ram Vilas Paswan wanted him to contest.

"I will contest the election from Hajipur. I've said many times that during my political career, I will stay with NDA and will continue to serve the people of Haijpur. There is no other contestant (for the Hajipur seat). All other contestants are bogus contestants. He (Chirag Paswan) should go where (late Ram Vilas Paswan) Paswan had taken him and serve those people...," Mr Paras said.

In 2019, Pashupati Paras won from Hajipur while Chirag Paswan emerged as the winner from Jamui.

However, the uncle-nephew fight shows no sign of relenting for close to three years.

Pashupati Kumar Paras and Chirag Paswan first locked horns over claiming the legacy of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) founder Ram Vilas Paswan.

Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) was formed in October 2021 after the Election Commission allotted a separate symbol to Chirag Paswan's faction following his differences with his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, who heads a separate faction.

Meanwhile, in the 2020 Bihar assembly elections, Chirag Paswan had walked out of the NDA, raising a rebellion against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

In the Bihar assembly elections 2020, the LJP managed to secure only a 5.66 per cent vote share winning a single seat.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)