Chirag Paswan is keeping his options open in Uttar Pradesh, expressing hope for an alliance with the BJP while refusing to rule out contesting all 403 Assembly seats independently. He says formal alliance talks have not begun and points to his party's NDA partnerships at the Centre and in Bihar. However, his party's 2022 UP Assembly election performance was poor, contesting 21 seats and losing deposits in all. Chirag says an alliance would be positive, but no final decision has been announced yet.