Chirag blames JD(U) for split, Paras hits back
PATNA: Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan Wednesday broke his silence on the rebellion in his party and accused Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s party Janata Dal (united) of engineering the split even as his estranged uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, who is leading the tearaway group of five of the party’s six MPs, landed in Patna and launched a counter attack.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday, Paswan said, “During the Bihar assembly elections last year, some people, particularly those belonging to JD(U), had been continuously trying to break the party. We contested the assembly polls with full support of the party, but my uncle (Paras) did not play any role in election campaign. Some of my party MPs too kept themselves busy.”
Without naming Nitish Kumar, Paswan alleged JD (U) first caused a division between Dalits and Mahadalits in Bihar and they had now split LJP. “They want to divide and rule,” he said.
He said people conspired against him at a time when he was ill. “I tried to talk to my uncle, but was unsuccessful. I tried to keep my family and party together,” he said. Paswan is said to be recovering from typhoid.
The Jamui MP, who was anointed as the LJP president by his father and former union
minister late Ram Vilas Paswan last year, said his elevation was as per the constitution of the party and vowed to fight back the rebellion.
“The leader of house is decided by the parliamentary committee and not by the MPs. I have been informed that they removed me from the post of the president. A party president is deemed removed only in case of death or if he resigns,” argued Paswan. “It’s going to be a longdrawn legal battle.”
Earlier, in the day, Paswan wrote a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, questioning his decision to appoint Paras as the leader of the LJP parliamentary party.
“Since Article 26 of the Constitution of the LJP empowers the central parliamentary board of the party to decide its leader in the Lok Sabha, the decision of announcing Pashupati Kumar paras, MP, as leader of LJP in Lok Sabha is contrary to provisions of constitution of our party,” Paswan wrote in his letter to the Speaker, requesting him to review his decision and issue a new circular in his favour.
Meanwhile, Paras, who was elected LJP’s parliamentary party leader on Monday, reached Patna on Wednesday to a tumultuous welcome.
“There is a dictatorial system in the party. Our party has a constitution that one person will hold one post. Chirag held three. He has been chairman of the party’s parliamentary board since 2013. He was made the national president without election in 2019. Then he became the leader of the parliamentary party. So the party decided that he (Chirag Paswan) be freed from the post of parliamentary party leader and national president,” Paras said.
Alleging that Chirag removed him from the post of Bihar unit president unconstitutionally, he said, “If there is a long fight ahead, fight it, go to the Supreme Court. We wanted to fight elections in Bihar with NDA, but it did not happen. There was no alliance. Everyone lost. This was the anger among the people. We are saying LJP is ours, rest court will decide.”
He also questioned Paswan’s decision to suspend them. “Who is he to suspend us? He should know the rules. A show cause is served before suspension,” he said and added that decision on party president would be taken on Thursday.
LJP’s working president Suraj Bhan Singh, however, hoped sanity would return in the party. “My job is to unite the family and not to break it. Chirag should understand that his uncle worked under him for a long time and for some days, we can also work under his uncle. Chirag should not have doubts about anything. We will never take any action. His party and his family will remain intact,” said Singh.
Meanwhile, when asked about a woman’s allegation of sexual exploitation against his cousin Prince Raj, one of the rebel MPs, which he had mentioned in the letter which was released by him on Tuesday, Chirag Paswan said he had advised both of them to approach police.
Paswan’s letter addressed to Paras was written in March and was released on Tuesday.
The woman has filed a complaint against Prince Raj alleging sexual assault at Delhi’s Connaught Place police station.
Delhi Police sources said, “On 15 June, a woman has filed a complaint at Connaught Place police station against Prince Raj, alleging sexual assault. The three-page complaint is being investigated upon. The police are yet to register an FIR.”