New Delhi: Chirag Paswan, the leader of the key faction of the Lok Janshakti Party, returned to the ruling National Democratic Alliance, a boost for the coalition ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The leader said that the BJP had addressed all his concerns and asserted that the alliance will win all 40 seats in Bihar in 2024.
Mr Paswan, who has been isolated after the 2019 assembly elections, had placed his demands before Union Home Minister and the BJP's chief strategist Amit Shah earlier this week.
The Bihar leader said that he never had any issues with BJP, but had separated in 2020 due to Nitish Kumar.
"In 2020, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was a part of NDA, and our party did not agree with his policies. We wanted to move ahead with the idea 'Bihar first, Biharis first', but the Bihar CM had different views. Our opinions and ideas were being ignored," Mr Paswan tells NDTV in an exclusive interview.
He said that now that Nitish Kumar is no longer with the NDA, they took a call and decided to join hands with BJP again.
Chirag Paswan has made it clear that his party will contest from Hajipur, a Lok Sabha seat currently represented by his estranged uncle and Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras.
Asked about his ties with his uncle, Mr Paswan said that both of them are part of the alliance and should now focus on winning the upcoming polls.
He said that Hajipur has been the stronghold of his father Ram Vilas Paswan and now it is his duty to take over the responsibilities. He also said that he wants to win the support of the people through his work.
Earlier this week, Mr Paras doubled down saying that he will not give up Hajipur. "He (Chirag) has no standing in Hajipur. I wonder why he is spending his time there," he said.
Mr Paswan dismissed the statement and said that who fights from which seat will only be decided during internal discussions of the alliance.
"Making such remarks doesn't get you nomination on a seat. Such decisions are made only during internal discussions," he tells NDTV.
Nitish Kumar's move to break away from the NDA last year and stitching up a Grand Alliance with all parties in Bihar except the two LJP factions, has left the BJP isolated. It had meant an uphill task for the BJP to keep Bihar numbers intact in 2024.
Of the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar, the NDA won 39 seats -- 17 for the BJP and 16 for Nitish Kumar' JD(U) and 6 for the LJP – in 2019.
The Congress bagged one and Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal, which was in the opposition that time, none.