Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) national president Chirag Paswan on Thursday issued a subtle warning to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said he has the responsibilities of the ministry as long as he remains a union minister. His remark comes at a time when a tussle is underway in the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over seat-sharing pact for the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar.
"Talks are underway... I have other responsibilities too. I am a minister too... I am going to the ministry at the moment," said Paswan, who is Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, when asked by reporters about NDA's seat-sharing pact for Bihar polls.
Pressure tactics from Paswan?
Paswan's remark is seen as a pressure tactic to demand more seats for his LJP (Ram Vilas) for Bihar elections. Buoyed by his party's success in 2024 Lok Sabha elections when the LJP (Ram Vilas) won all five seats it contested, Paswan wants to contest on 40 to 50 seats, but the BJP has offered him around 20 seats.
Notably, Paswan's party had gone solo in the 2020 Bihar elections, fielding candidates on 137 seats, most of them against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United (JD-U). However, the LJP had won just one seat.
BJP reaches out to Paswan
While Paswan remains firm on stand, the BJP has reached out to the LJP chief in a bid to resolve the seat-sharing tussle. On Thursday, Union MoS Nityanand Rai also met Paswan at his official residence in New Delhi to discuss the seat-sharing pact. Before this, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is BJP's in-charge for Bihar polls, also met Paswan on Tuesday. He was accompanied by Bihar Minister Mangal Pandey and BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde.
Paswan has also pointed out that his party was given 43 seats during the 2015 Bihar elections. The JD-U was not part of the NDA during the 2015 polls, though.
Meanwhile, assembly elections will be held in Bihar in two phases - November 6 and 11. The counting of votes will take place on November 14, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Monday.
