New Delhi: Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has stepped down as national president of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), reported The Hindu. His son and Jamui MP Chirag Paswan has now been elected the new president.
Chirag’s name was nominated by his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras and unanimously agreed upon by party leaders. After being announced as party chief, Chirag said that his father will remain his ‘guiding force’ and his ‘national president’.
He did not shy away from allegations that his elevation was the result of dynasty politics and told The Hindu, “I am the last person to comment about nepotism. I am the outcome of nepotism. But eventually, it’s the people of the country who decide your fate, irrespective of your political lineage. It will ultimately boil down to how much you can deliver on your promises. If I don’t have the capability and potential, I will be pushed out.”
Ram Vilas Paswan founded the LJP in 2000 after splitting from the Janata Dal (United) over differences with party leaders George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar.
Lok Janshakti Party’s outgoing president Ram Vilas Paswan announces the decision to elect Chirag Paswan as partys President, in New Delhi, on Tuesday. Photo: PTI
He said that he was stepping down as party chief because he did not want to continue handling the twin responsibilities of being a minister in the Union government and the national president of the party. “I don’t want Chirag to walk in my shadow. Whatever the party does now, whether positive or negative will be on him,” he said.
Chirag’s first assignment would be the assembly polls in Jharkhand later this year where the party is keen to contest on six seats. This would require some tough negotiations with its ally BJP – a much stronger party in the state – as the LJP had only contested on one seat in the previous assembly elections in the state.
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“It won’t be right to say anything right now. We are talking within the NDA forum, discussions are going in a positive direction and I am sure a decision will be arrived at soon,” he said.
In the past, Chirag has also attempted to find a place for himself in the Hindi film industry. He co-starred with Kangana Ranaut in the 2011 film Mile Na Mile Hum. The film did not fare particularly successfully at the box office.