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Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
On Nitish turf, Chirag set to sharpen ‘new leadership' pitch, step up ‘Bahujan outreach'
Barely three weeks after Union minister Chirag Paswan stirred Bihar politics by announcing that he would contest in the upcoming state Assembly polls, the LJP (Ram Vilas) president is going to step up pressure on ally JD (U) by holding a rally in Rajgir – in Nalanda district, the home turf of Chief Minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar – on Sunday. The LJP (RV) has dubbed its Rajgir meeting 'Bahujan sankalp samagam', where Chirag would focus on 'Bahujan' and 'nav netritva' (new leadership) in a bid to expand his party's base beyond Paswans – the Scheduled Caste (SC) group to which he belongs – to other Bahujan communities. While both Nitish and Chirag are key allies of the BJP-led NDA, their relations have been strained, with the LJP(RV) chief now positioning himself for a larger role in Bihar politics. For the last couple of months, the LJP (RV) has engaged in posturings in what has been seen as its bid to get a sizeable number of seats to contest in the Assembly polls due in October-November this year. While senior partners, BJP and JD(U), are likely to contest from about 100 seats each in the elections to the 243-member House, the LJP (RV) and other junior NDA allies – including Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha – have also been attempting to claim larger shares in seat-sharing. In the Lok Sabha polls, the LJP(RV) had won five seats out of five it was allotted by the NDA out of the state's 40 seats. For the Assembly polls, the NDA leadership has yet to kickstart the seat-sharing negotiations among its allies. Chirag, 42, now clearly seems to be looking to take centrestage in Bihar politics with his party calling for a 'new leadership' in the state. At the LJP(RV)'s June 8 rally in Arah, Chirag had announced that he would contest the 'Assembly polls from any seat people would want him to contest from'. At the Rajgir meeting, he is expected to push for 'Bihar's leadership for Bahujans', especially for the SCs which account for 19.65% of the state's population. Paswans make up about 5.33% of the state's population. The LJP (RV)'s Jamui MP Arun Bharti, who is also Chirag's brother-in-law, said, in a social media post, on the eve of the Rajgir event: 'Though Bahujan samaj has a huge population, it has been kept out from leadership role. The social group which is the biggest was shown/ treated as the smallest one. But, not any longer. From land of Rajgir, we are going to make an important announcement – Bahujan will no longer be a crowd but a voice. They will not just vote but lead. Bahujam Sankalp Samagam is not a cultural event but a political clarion call. We are gathering at Rajgir to fight on our terms, choose our leadership. Our leader will be Chirag Paswan.' Of late, Chirag has entrusted Bharti to play a major role in his party for working out its poll strategies. After the LJP(RV) chief's decision to take the plunge in the Assembly polls, RJD leader and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Tejashwi Yadav asked him to clear the air if he 'wanted to become Bihar CM'. 'Let him (Chirag) say it clearly, it will give clarity to NDA and INDIA bloc,' Tejashwi said. An LJP (RV) leader told The Indian Express: 'As of now, we are engaging in intense posturings to get a good number of seats for the upcoming polls. We also want winnable seats. With five MPs, we are the BJP's third most important NDA ally at the Centre. If a party like HAM (S) with one MP can ask for 40 seats, how many should we ask for with that calculation'. In the 2020 Assembly polls in which the then undivided LJP had contested alone, the party had got 5.66% votes while winning just one seat. On the LJP(RV)'s 'Bahujan outreach and new leadership call', another party leader said: 'Bihar politics has been undergoing a churn and a new political order will emerge sooner or later. Chirag will play a key role in that process, more so with Nitish Kumar seen to be walking into the sunset of his long political innings.' Santosh Singh is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express since June 2008. He covers Bihar with main focus on politics, society and governance. Investigative and explanatory stories are also his forte. Singh has 25 years of experience in print journalism covering Bihar, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. ... Read More
Indian Express
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
As Chirag Paswan seeks to become NDA fulcrum in Bihar, why BJP is watching with caution
In recent weeks, Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan has publicly spoken of his wish to return to Bihar and contest the Assembly elections, seen as a pitch to take up the position of either the kingmaker, if not the king, in state politics. And the message is not lost on the BJP leadership. While the BJP leadership maintains that Paswan is free to contest from any of the seats his party is allocated as part of a seat-sharing agreement, a section in the ruling party said he was merely trying to take advantage of a sense of confusion in the state unit. Paswan, the Union Minister for Food Processing Industries in the Narendra Modi Cabinet, recently said he was ready to get back to Bihar politics as contributing to the development of the state had always been his motivation. With his party indicating he could contest from a general seat instead of a reserved constituency, all eyes will now be on Paswan's public rally in Ara in Bhojpur district on Sunday. Paswan's public statements come at a time when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's rivals believe that his time at the top of Bihar politics is drawing to a close. The LJP (RV) leader is said to harbour the ambition of being the face that can bring together key electoral forces in the state. Though his party won five seats in the last Lok Sabha elections with 6.47% vote share, it is still not as big a party as Nitish Kumar's JD(U) that had an 18.52% vote share. A BJP leader admitted that Paswan had the potential to be a leader with acceptability beyond his party's traditional base. A senior BJP leader and former MP from Bihar said, 'He does not want to limit himself to being a leader of only the Paswans with just 4% votes. While the community is with him, he has to expand his base and is playing his cards.' However, a section of state BJP leaders feel the central leadership failed to groom faces in a politically crucial and unpredictable state such as Bihar, and this has allowed the LJP(RV) leader to cash in. 'If the BJP leadership in the state had been defined, it would not have been like this. Leaders such as Chirag Pawan are taking advantage of this. Chirag is playing his cards carefully,' said a senior BJP leader in Bihar. 'His hints that he could shift to the state and contest from a general seat show that he wants to be the next Nitish (Kumar) in Bihar politics. He (Nitish) has ruled Bihar for almost two decades without having a majority, without having a party that has more than 20% vote share. He gets projected from everywhere. The BJP these days does not make leaders, only workers,' the leader added. BJP leader Mrityunjay Sharma, the author of Broken Promises: Caste, Crime and Politics in Bihar, said Paswan's posturing was linked to his efforts to expand his party's base. 'It seems that Chirag wants to expand the reach of his party beyond a caste party of Paswans, as it is seen. He wants to include various other voting blocs, such as the youth and women. That's the reason why he says he wants to contest from an unreserved seat,' he said. However, Sharma said the LJP(RV) chief would find it tough. 'The LJP(RV) is a small party compared to Nitish Kumar's party. Historically, the JD(U) has always been a significant party with around 20% vote share even in a coalition. Paswan would have to expand his base significantly to be such a player, which is really tough in the coming five to 10 years,' he said. The LJP's best performance in the 243-member Assembly was in 2005, when it won 29 seats. The BJP also recognises that it has to tread with caution in a state as important and electorally fragmented as Bihar, balancing the interests of both its allies. In the state, two of the three key players — BJP, JD(U), and RJD — together make for a winning formula. Top BJP leaders said it had few options but to keep all the existing allies together and continue with Nitish Kumar as the face. 'The reports about his health condition are not good, but his face brings the votes and his legacy is important. As of now, it is like, 'it will run till it can'. The party has no other option but to go with him,' said a BJP leader in New Delhi. For the BJP to continue as a dominant force in national politics, Bihar is a crucial factor. The Centre's announcement of caste enumeration during the next Census — it has been a key political plank of the Opposition, especially the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi in the last few elections — was also seen as a move to consolidate the BJP's position ahead of the Bihar elections. Both the JD(U) and the LJP (RV) had sought caste enumeration, saying it is necessary to ensure justice to the backward classes. If it succeeds in pulling through in Bihar — it is the only state in the Hindi heartland where the BJP has been in power as part of only coalition governments — the ruling party won't have to look back as it continues its quest to remain the leading national political force.
The Print
05-06-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Secular card, Seemanchal link & other factors in Bihar as Owaisi's AIMIM seeks tie-up with RJD
'We want to show our sincerity towards fighting the polls together with the Mahagathbandhan. Now, the ball is in their court.' All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen's Bihar president Akhtarul Iman told ThePrint he has approached both the Mahagathbandhan allies to contest the polls together so there is no split in secular votes and the AIMIM is not dubbed as a B-team of the BJP. New Delhi: The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM, four of whose five MLAs elected in the 2020 Bihar assembly elections had defected to the RJD, has sent feelers to the Lalu Yadav-led party and the Congress to join their Mahagathbandhan in the 'larger interest of secular' parties in the poll-bound state. 'The RJD has taken away our MLAs. But we are ready to forget that and start afresh. If they do not accept our offer they cannot later say we divided Muslim votes. We are ready to contest more than 50 seats in our stronghold areas and Seemanchal,' he said. The AIMIM contested the 2020 assembly polls in alliance with the Upendra Kushwaha-led Rashtriya Lok Samta Party and the BSP. The Owaisi-led party created a flutter as it won five of the 20 seats it contested, securing 14.28 percent votes in total in those seats. Asked about the AIMIM's willingness to join the alliance now, RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari said, 'The people of Bihar have decided to make Tejashwi Yadav chief minister. Lalu Prasad has fought communal forces throughout his life. He never compromised. Some 'vote katua' party (a party that does not a have realistic chance of winning but contests polls just to cut into other parties' votes) cannot harm people's aspiration. They (AIMIM) has expressed desire, the party will look into it.' The five seats the AIMIM won in 2020 are in the Muslim-dominated Seemanchal districts of Araria, Purnea, Katihar and Kishanganj. The BSP won only one seat out of 78 it contested, but the RLSP failed to open its account despite contesting 99. However, four AIMIM MLAs—Muhammed Izhar Asfi (Kochadamam), Shahnawaz Alam (Jokihat), Syed Ruknuddin (Baisi) and Azhar Nayeemi (Bahadurgunj)— switched over to the RJD in June 2022, leaving Amour MLA Iman as the lone party representative in the assembly. Also Read: Family matters in Bihar's Dalit politics—Manjhis to Paswans, how kin are rising up the ladder The Seemanchal story Bihar's Seemanchal region, bordering West Bengal, is dominated by Muslim population. Kishanganj district has 67 percent Muslim voters, Katihar 38 percent, Araria 32 percent and Purnia 30 percent. The AIMIM performed well in Muslim-dominated constituencies in 2020, which, many argued, cut into the RJD's and the Congress's traditional voter base, thus benefitting the BJP and its NDA ally JD(U). When the results were announced 10 November 2020, the NDA won a majority in the 243-seat assembly, but its tally of 125 was only marginally above the majority mark of 122. In those elections, the RJD contested 144 seats and won 75, emerging as the single largest party. Among its Mahagathbandhan allies, the Congress contested 70 seats and won 19, CPI-ML fought on 19 seats and won 12, and the CPI contested six and won two. The CPM contested four seats and won two. The alliance won 110 seats in total. The grouping's composition has changed since. The Mukesh Sahni-led Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP)—which contested 11 seats in the 2020 polls as an NDA partner and won four—has joined the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan now. Pashupati Kumar Paras-led Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) also quit the NDA in April and, according to sources, he too is knocking at the door of the Mahagathbandhan to join the alliance. Also Read: Chirag targets Nitish over Muzaffarpur case, flags 'breakdown' in Bihar law & order, healthcare Seat-sharing major roadblock Sources say the AIMIM is demanding 20-25 seats in the Mahagathbandhan which can prove to be the deal-breaker. 'The main problem is how to accommodate these many partners,' said a source in the RJD. 'The AIMIM is demanding 25 seats and the RJD cannot offer more than 10. The RJD is willing to give 50 to the Congress, 20 fewer than what it got in 2020, and the Left parties can get 30. The VIP can get 8 to 10 seats. But, the Congress is demanding more, and so are the Left parties,' he added. Meanwhile, Akhtarul Iman told ThePrint he has spoken to his party president Owaisi about the state unit's desire and he 'gave us full freedom to initiate talks with the RJD and the Congress'. He said he has reached out to Tejashwi Yadav through some RJD MLAs, and if they show a 'big heart' there will be no split of votes in the Muslim-dominated constituencies. He said the AIMIM had requested to join the Mahagathbandhan in the 2020 elections too, 'but the RJD did not send any confirmation and we fought separately'. 'It is another attempt from our end to forge an alliance so later they cannot call us a B team of the BJP,' he said. Also Read: No permanent peace as long as Pakistan uses its territory for terrorism against India, says Owaisi 'No vote katua' Owaisi has always vehemently rejected any attempt to dub his party as vote 'katua'. After the results were announced in 2020, he had said that on the 20 seats his party contested, the Mahagathbandhan won the maximum nine, while the NDA won six and his party just five. On all these six seats—Raniganj, Pranpur, Barari, Sahebganj, Narpatganj and Chhatapur—the victory margins for NDA candidates were higher than the votes polled by the AIMIM candidates, indicating the AIMIM did not particularly harm the prospects of Mahagathbandhan candidates. And the margins were significantly higher on three of these seats—Sahebganj, Narpatganj and Chhatapur. In the 2015 polls, the AIMIM contested six seats, all in the Seemanchal region. Its candidates suffered heavy defeats, with only one managing to save his deposit. They AIMIM argues it did not harm Mahagathbandhan's secular votes then either as five of the six seats it contested—Kishanganj, Baisi, Amour, Kochadhaman and Raniganj —were won by the candidates of the then Congress-RJD-Janata Dal (United) alliance. The sixth seat, Balrampur, was won by the CPI-ML. D.M. Diwakar, a former head of Patna's AN Sinha Institute, said Muslim voters make their decisions wisely. 'There is no doubt that Muslims know where to vote and how not to waste their votes. The RJD has much bigger traction than the AIMIM among the Muslims. But Owaisi is a hero among the youths and he can spoil it (for the RJD) in the Seemanchal area like in 2020 as he has taken a strong position on the Waqf bill. But if they fight together, the NDA might suffer.' Addressing a rally 3 May in the Seemanchal region, Owaisi urged people to teach a lesson to the NDA and the RJD in the upcoming polls. He claimed his party would win all 24 seats in the Seemanchal region this time. (Edited by Ajeet Tiwari) Also Read: Why is toddy politics fermenting churn in 'dry' state Bihar? Answer lies in UP's Lok Sabha results
Time of India
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Ready to contest Bihar assembly polls if it helps my party improve strike rate: Chirag Paswan
NEW DELHI: In what can further stir the already roiled Bihar political waters, LJP leader, Union minister Chirag Paswan, has said that he was open to contesting the forthcoming assembly polls if that helps his party and improves its "strike rate". Tired of too many ads? go ad free now 'The has tried this strategy many times by fielding their MPs in the assembly elections and have got its benefit. If my candidature in the assembly polls strengthens my party's position and my strike rate increases — we had a 100% strike rate in the Lok Sabha elections, I would like my strike rate to be good in the seats where my party and the alliance will be contesting,' Paswan said in a video clip that he reposted on his X handle. The Union minister said that he did not see himself being confined to central politics for long, adding that his desire to improve conditions in Bihar and people there was the sole reason why he joined politics. 'I have my own vision of Bihar first, Bihari first. In such a situation, I want my state to stand at par with developed states. After becoming an MP for the third time, I realised that it may not be possible (to work for Bihar) by staying in Delhi,' he said. Chiarag also said that he had shared his views before party leaders that he wanted to go back to Bihar 'quickly'. He added that if the party's evaluation finds it will benefit from his contesting in the polls, he would contest in the assembly election. Chirag, who has successfully inherited the reins of the LJP fending off a strong claim by his uncle, is seen as a potential swing factor in Bihar politics because of his hold over fellow Paswans who account for nearly 4.5% of the population. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now He has never been loath to leverage this to drive hard bargains and seek to force reluctant partners to acquiesce in his demands. Chief minister and his JD(U) paid a stiff cost for underestimating his 'damage potential' in 2020 as Chirag, angered by the latter's dismissal of his claim for at least 30 of the 240 seats, focused his energy on hurting Kumar's candidates. The revenge strike saw Nitish's tally dipping to 42. BJP helped them patch up and recently Chirag's statement that there was no vacancy for the job of CM was seen as accommodative of JD(U)'s insistence that their leader was deserving of one more term and BJP's desire to spare the CM discomfiture. Chirag repeated this on Monday in response to a question from a reporter.'There is no vacancy for the post of Bihar CM. Nitish Kumar will be on the post after the polls.' However, the tone of the statement and the build up for it, with his brother-in-law, LS member Arun Bharti telling media Chirag could consider an assembly run, suggest that he is not reconciled to being the perpetual fourth fiddle after BJP, RJD and JDU and could he positioning himself for a hard stand in seat-sharing talks among NDA partners, as well for the openings which may come up post -assembly elections.
