Chirag defies odds to win big, proves BJP was right in placing bet on him

The Bihar Assembly poll will be known for the landslide victory of the NDA, but it also marks the establishment of Chirag Paswan, whose party — the LJP (RV) — emerged as the fourth-largest winner, as a force to be reckoned with.

His rise coincides with the entry of Prashant Kishor, who launched Jan Suraaj, and the decline of another young leader, Tejashwi Yadav, whose party — the RJD — was decimated this year.

After winning all five Lok Sabha seats allotted to him by the NDA in the 2024 General Election, Chirag has solidified his political presence. In the 2020 poll, Chirag contested alone and managed to win only one seat.

He benefited largely from the NDA this time by getting to contest 29 seats of which the party won 19, thereby putting the party in a position to seek the Deputy Chief Minister’s post.

It remains uncertain how Nitish Kumar agrees to the distribution of ministerial berths — LJP (RV) MLAs are likely to secure good ministerial berths. The young turk

rebuilt the party after his father, Ram Vilas Paswan’s death. Despite the split in the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) following the death of the party’s patriarch, Chirag drove his LJP (RV) faction to the best performance ever. He broadened the party’s base from the traditional Dalit vote base to increasingly drawing on “Bihar first, Biharis first”. With the BSP also leading in one seat, the results suggest Dalit voters have not shifted towards any other party.

In 2005, the LJP had scored big by winning 29 seats. While the election resulted in a hung House, in a repoll later that year, the LJP won only 10 constituencies.

While there were intense discussions and opposition within the JD(U) against the LJP (RV) demand for over 25-30 seats, the winning streak of Chirag’s party has proved that the BJP was right in placing the bet on him.

Chirag targeted the 25-45 age group, which makes up nearly 45 per cent of Bihar’s population. His sloganeering centred around creating a developed Bihar where there would be immense opportunities for the youth.

In the run-up to the Bihar elections, the young leader indicated that he would like to return to Bihar politics even though the post of Chief Minister was reserved for Nitish Kumar.

“I cannot do much for my state by sitting far away in Delhi. I need to go back to the state,” Chirag stated on several occasions.

With speculations rife that this will be Nitish’s last election, the absence of a strong face in Bihar enhances the importance and scope of Chirag down the line.