Paswan may contest Assembly poll, party to call meet

The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) is likely to soon call a meeting of its executive members to formalise a proposal, urging its president and Union Minister Chirag Paswan to contest the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.

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Sources said its leaders had met on May 30 in Bihar’s Bikramganj, where hours later PM Narendra Modi addressed a public meeting, to back the idea. However, Paswan himself was not in the meeting.

LJP (RV) MP Arun Bharti said its members want Paswan to contest from a general category seat if he does decide to fight the Assembly poll instead of a constituency reserved for the Scheduled Castes, a path often chosen by leaders from the Dalit community.

This is aimed at sending out a message about his acceptance outside his core constituency and projecting him as a leader with wide appeal.

Bihar is central to Paswan’s politics and he has repeatedly spoken about his vision for the state’s development, Bharti told PTI recalling the ‘Bihar First Bihari First’ agenda put forth by the Union Minister.

Seat-sharing talks in the NDA, which is more crowded now than ever in the state, is yet to begin, and its constituents are positioning themselves ahead of what is likely to be a hard bargain.

The party founded by Ram Vilas Paswan, a prominent leader from the Dalit community, sees itself as crucial to the success of the ruling alliance in the state, where the RJD-Congress-Left bloc is sensing an opportunity to unseat Kumar from power after two decades amid concerns about his fitness.

A third-term Lok Sabha MP, Paswan has never contested the Assembly poll, but has expressed his keenness for the state politics.