Tale of 2 exits in the east: Shibhu Soren’s daughter-in-law quits JMM; late Ram Vilas' brother resigns as minister

While Sita Soren said she was anguished at being alienated by the party, the royal snub by BJP to endorse Chirag as inheritor of Paswan’s legacy led to Pashupati Paras’s resignation

JMM MLA Sita Soren and Pashupati Paras. Photos: X/File

Tribune News Service

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, March 19

Eastern Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand witnessed two high profile exits on Tuesday, with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha three-term MLA and founder Shibhu Soren’s daughter in-law Sita Soren and union minister Pashupati Paras quitting as union minister, breaking ties with the BJP-led NDA.

Sita Soren, the vocal lawmaker from Jama in Jharkhand’s Dumka, in her resignation letter to JMM founder Shibu Soren on Tuesday said she was anguished at being alienated by the party and the family and had firmly decided to quit the JMM.

Sita Soren is the wife of late Durga Soren, the elder son of Shibu Soren.

In her resignation letter she said her husband laid down his life for the cause of Jharkhand but the JMM, as it stood today, was in the hands of people “whose values and ideology is antithetical to all that the JMM once represented.”

She also alleged a major conspiracy against her while resigning from the primary membership of the party.

Sita Soren might join the BJP, which has so far named 11 Lok Sabha candidates out of 14 in Jharkhand.

In Bihar meanwhile, Union minister Pashupati Paras, the brother of late Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan, resigned from the council of ministers a day after his faction was snubbed over Chirag Paswan led LJP by the NDA in Bihar.

Only yesterday BJP-led NDA finalised a seat sharing deal with Chirag faction of the LJP giving it five Lok Sabha tickets including Hajipur which Pashupati represents in the outgoing 17th Lok Sabha.

Chirag Paswan, currently an MP from Jamui SC seat is set to contest from Hajipur reserved seat which his uncle Pashupati holds.

The royal snub by the BJP which chose to endorse Chirag as the inheritor of Ram Vilas Paswan’s legacy led to Paras’s Tuesday resignation.

The Paswans make up nearly 4 per cent of the vote in Bihar and are known to vote en bloc.

The NDA partners have finalised the following seat sharing in Bihar - BJP 17, JDU 16, LJP-Chirag Paswan 5; HAM 1, RLM 1.

Bihar has 40 Lok Sabha seats of which NDA holds 39 currently.

JDU president and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is in Delhi today, is likely to meet the BJP top brass. BJP is in the process of finalising its Bihar candidates.

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