Bihar opposition parties want Ram Vilas Paswan’s Delhi bungalow converted into a memorial

Shubhadeep Choudhury                                                                                             

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 8

Trying to fish in troubled waters, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has said that late Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s official bungalow at 12 Janpath, where the Dalit politician lived for more than three decades, be turned into a memorial.

“It has not even been a year since Ram Vilas Paswan passed away and the BJP-JD(U) is trying to insult him. The BJP-JD(U) first broke up the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and is now trying to get the bungalow vacated,” Mrityunjay Tiwari, RJD spokesperson, told this reporter over phone from Patna.

The BJP has given a ministerial berth in the Modi government to Ram Vilas Paswan’s younger brother Pashupati Kumar Paras ignoring the late Union minister’s son Chirag Paswan’s claims to the LJP founded by his father. Though Chirag has not betrayed any disgruntlement against the BJP for this, the RJD has been trying to woo him.

Jitan Ram Manjhi, Hindustani Awami Party leader and former Bihar chief minister, has also written to the President to confer the Bharat Ratna on Ram Vilas Paswan and convert the Delhi bungalow into a memorial.  

Ram Vilas Paswan died in October last year. Chirag Paswan, who lives in the bungalow, was asked to vacate it by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in August this year. However, the Jamui MP installed a bust of his late father inside the premises of the bungalow a few days back triggering off speculation that he was trying to create pressure upon the central government to allow him to retain the house.

While Chirag has been allotted a residence in Delhi’s North Avenue, the sprawling bungalow has been allotted to Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology.

Chirag, however, told reporters at Patna that as a lawmaker he would not do anything that amounts to encroachment or violation of law.

“As of now, the government has permitted me to stay here. The bust is a symbol of the party’s love for the late leader and will be shifted whenever an alternative arrangement is provided. The bust should never be seen as an attempt on my part to encroach the property,” Chirag said.

Acknowledging that government rules do not allow converting any residence into a museum or a memorial, he said he would never support anything that goes against this and asserted that the party plans to install his father’s bust or statue in every district across the country.

Chirag also informed that he had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to attend a mega event being organised by him at Patna on September 12 to pay tribute to his late father.