Chirag Paswan Declares He Will Contest All 243 Seats In Bihar Elections

Claiming that there was a "conspiracy" to thwart his foray into Bihar politics, Union minister Chirag Paswan on Sunday asserted that he would, nonetheless, contest the upcoming assembly polls in the state. The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president, who is a junior NDA partner in the state, made the statement at a rally in Saran district.

"I want to take Bihar to new heights. I visualise a future in which our boys and girls will not need to go outside in search of greener pastures; rather, people from other states will come here in search of better education and employment opportunities," said Mr Paswan.

He claimed that his passion made many people uneasy.

"These people are content with having secured their own future, and they worry about my vision of 'Bihar First, Bihari First' catching the public imagination. So they are involved in a conspiracy to hinder my involvement in state politics. They are trying to create confusion in the minds of the people by asking whether Chirag Paswan will contest the assembly polls himself," Mr Paswan.

"I want to put an end to such designs by proclaiming, from this glorious land of Saran, yes, I will contest the assembly polls. I will contest in all 243 seats. Every segment will see Chirag Paswan fighting with full intensity," said the 42-year-old, who has been denying that he had his eyes on the chief minister's chair.

He, nonetheless, voiced "concern" over incidents like the murder of top industrialist Gopal Khemka a couple of days ago, and said it raised doubts over the ability of the Nitish Kumar government "which we support and which has so far enjoyed a reputation for good governance".

"The upcoming elections are crucial. After winning these, we shall strive to create an atmosphere in which people can step out of their homes at any time without fear and security concerns," said Mr Paswan.

He also appeared peeved at his estranged uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras getting a toehold with the offer of entry into the opposition INDIA bloc. Without mentioning the younger brother of his late father Ram Vilas Paswan by name, he recalled, "I was expelled from my own party and made to vacate my own house".

Mr Paras had split late Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party in 2021, leaving Chirag, the then national president, isolated, and grabbed a berth in the Union cabinet. Before he was redeemed in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls of 2024, Chirag had to suffer the ignominy of vacating the 12, Janpath bungalow, that his late father had occupied for several years and which also served as the LJP office.

The BJP's decision to make peace with Chirag had caused Paras to resign from the Union cabinet ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and, in April this year, quit the NDA.

Chirag Paswan also trained his guns at RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav by mocking the 'Chhatra Yuva Sansad' drive, where free pens are being distributed among the youth.

"Those who had snatched away people's land with the promise of jobs are now distributing pens," said Mr Paswan, in an obvious reference to the railway scam involving Mr Yadav's father, Lalu Prasad, the RJD president.

The Union minister also said, "I am fully in support of Bihari youth's demand for a domicile policy. The rights of our young men and women must be protected. But it must be pointed out that the domicile policy, brought in 2006, was scrapped in 2023, when the RJD was sharing power, its de facto leader was the Deputy Chief Minister, and another senior leader was the education minister."

Mr Paswan also referred to the “inheritance tax” proposed by the Congress, an RJD ally, in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls, and urged the people to be wary of the opposition coalition.

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