The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), founded in 2000 by the late Ram Vilas Paswan, could be set for a major jolt an year after the versatile politician's demise.
Five of its six Lok Sabha MPs have informed Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla of their demand to replace Chirag Paswan, Ram Vilas Paswan's son, as leader of their parliamentary party in the lower house. Chirag is the sixth MP.
"LJP MPs met Lok Speaker Om Birla on Sunday and handed over a letter to him about new developments in the party. They request him to consider Pashupati Kumar Paras as new leader of the LJP in Lok Sabha," ANI reported.
While the rebel group—consisting of MPs Prince Raj, Chandan Singh, Veena Devi, Pashupati Kumar Paras and Mehboob Ali Kaiser—has long been unhappy with Chirag Paswan's style of functioning, sources told PTI, the LJP president has now been left virtually isolated at the top after taking on the mantle following his father's death in 2020.
Sources close to him have blamed the JD(U) for the split, saying the party had long been working to isolate the LJP president after his decision to go all out against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the 2020 Assembly polls damaged the ruling party badly.
The rebel group may back the JD(U) in the coming days, the sources told PTI. Interestingly, Paras is an uncle of Chirag Paswan.
also read
- Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras quits NDA after BJP favours Chirag Paswan
- Interim symbols in LJP spat: Chirag gets helicopter, sewing machine for Paras
- EC freezes LJP poll symbol till Chirag Paswan-Pashupati Paras dispute is settled
- Chirag Paswan announces Bihar yatra, wants ‘big statue’ of Ram Vilas
After its drubbing in last year's Assembly polls, 208 LJP functionaries joined the JD(U). One of these turncoats was Keshav Singh, former state general secretary of the LJP. Keshav had alleged Chirag was running the LJP like a corporate house. He claimed "Chirag is the owner of eight private companies, which have properties in the country and also abroad."
In April, Keshav filed a complaint against Chirag Paswan in a Patna civil court, accusing him of cheating LJP functionaries. He claimed Chirag had made people wanting to contest the Assembly polls donate Rs 4.5 lakh to the party. He had claimed over 90 LJP members donated the money, but most of them did not get a ticket.
