Hajipur (Bihar): Chirag Paswan lost his father Ram Vilas Paswan, the tallest Dalit leader in Bihar, right in the middle of the 2020 assembly polls in Bihar. Still learning the ropes of the state’s complex political dynamics, he suddenly found himself in the middle of a bitter succession struggle. To add insult to his injuries, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar ensured that Ram Vilas’s party, the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), was kept out of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance, even as his uncle Pasupati Kumar Paras conspired to gain control over LJP legislators and MPs around the same time.
Observers started speculating that Chirag’s political career may not take off after all. The Narendra Modi regime, too, turned towards Paras, who had the support of his party’s elected representatives. Pushed to a corner, Chirag proved everyone wrong. He waged a guerilla, although non-violent, war against Nitish by putting up ‘upper caste’ candidates against the Janata Dal (United) wherever it contested, while supporting the BJP candidates in the rest of the constituencies.
In each of his interviews, where he appeared as a mourning son, dressed in unstitched white dhotis sporting a shaved head, he called himself Modi’s “Hanuman”, even as he launched a scathing attack against Nitish’s administration.
The division that he brought about in the NDA diverted upper caste votes away from Nitish, bringing his party’s tally down from 71 in 2015 to 43 in 2020. In one move, Chirag not only gave a striking blow to Nitish, whose fall was apparent even back then, but also signalled his own indispensability to the prime minister.
In 2021, Modi took Paras on his side by giving him a cabinet post. The Election Commission of India, meanwhile, froze the party’s name Lok Janshakti Party and its symbol the bungalow, and split the party. Chirag was allowed to have a party named after his father – the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) – while his uncle and his aide, Chirag’s cousin Prince Raj, were allotted the name Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party.
The Ambedkar Statue at Anwarpur Chowk is a popular destination for all political parties in Hajipur. Photo: Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta
When it really mattered, however, Modi chose Chirag over his uncle. Paras, now, is absent, nowhere to be seen even in Hajipur (from where Paras is the sitting MP) – as if told by the prime minister himself to lay low. Chirag, on the other hand, left his seat Jamui and is the NDA candidate from his father’s stronghold Hajipur, fighting to claim Ram Vilas Paswan’s legacy.
At the Anwarpur Chowk of Hajipur town, Beena Devi and her husband Raju Choudhary had hung Chirag’s party flag on their fruit-selling cart. They had also kept a sample EVM machine showing Chirag as the No.3 in the list of candidates, letting every customer know that his symbol is a helicopter now, not the old bungalow of Ram Vilas Paswan’s party.
“We are not happy with Modi, but we are with Chirag as his father has done a lot for our colony,” said Beena Devi. “No development work has happened here in the last five years, but we hope that Chirag, like his father, will help us in the times of our need.”
Beena Devi and Raju Choudhary, Pasi community supporters of Chirag Paswan, in Hajipur town. Photo: Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta
The couple belong to the Dalit Pasi community, which appeared to have switched from the Janata Dal (United) to the Tejashwi Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal in most other constituencies, but not in Hajipur. “Chirag will get votes from most Harijans except maybe Chamars,” remarked Beena Devi.
She said since RJD has fielded a Chamar candidate, Shiv Chandra Ram, against Chirag, he should get his caste’s votes.
A large section of voters in Hajipur town expressed solidarity towards Chirag.
Dhananjay Ram in Lalganj. Photo: Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta
In Lalganj, a rural assembly seat within the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat, Dhananjay Ram confirmed Beena Devi’s assessment. Ram, a Chamar by caste, told The Wire, “Ram Vilas Paswan was a well-respected man, but not Chirag. We are not looking at Shiv Chandra Ram’s caste, but our community will vote for the RJD as we are fed up with the Modi regime.”
He explained, “Modi ji launched so many air-conditioned trains but the general unreserved coaches in most trains have come down from four to two. How will daily-wage labourers afford AC trains? If you go to Hajipur station, you will find so many labourers who sometimes wait for two days at the station just to find a train where they can get an unreserved seat. Our wages have increased minimally, but the cost of living is shooting through the roof.”
“Our zero balance Jan Dhan accounts have remained zero balance only. Everything that you buy is taxed so much because of the GST. And now, we hear that Modi ji plans to take away our reservation, too,” Ram said.
RJD’s Shiv Chandra Ram’s office in Hajipur. Photo: Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta
Not merely Chamars and Paswans, Dalits appeared to be split in their party preferences. Vikas Rajak, a dhobi in Lalganj, told The Wire, “I voted for the BJP in the last two elections but will vote for RJD this time. Our community leaders have also joined the RJD because of Tejashwi Yadav’s appeal.”
On the other hand, Dullu Dusadh, a Paswan community member in Sadullapur village, vouched for Chirag. “It is because of Ram Vilas ji that we have earned some respect. Ram Vilas ji fought for us. We can’t betray him by not voting for his son.”
While the Dalits seemed split, the Extremely Backward Castes showed their preference for Modi. In fact, constituencies like Hajipur become interesting because of the crucial role non-Dalits play in reserved seats.
“Jo khila raha hai, usi ko na denge vote (Who else should we vote if not for the one who is feeding us),” said Ramu Mahato, an EBC Noniya community member.
RJD workers in Lalganj. Photo: Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta
Similarly, Tejashwi, an EBC Nai by caste, said, “We have always voted for the BJP, and we will do the same. There is a lot of local corruption here. Instead of five kg ration, we only get four kg. We did not even get a sauchalaya (toilet) but the records showed we received Rs 12,000 for it. But at least the Modi government has thought about poor people like us; the Nitish government has not implemented it properly.”
But the Mallah community members, who are traditional boatmen and fishermen, appeared to be veering towards the RJD, mostly because of its alliance with Mallah leader Mukesh Sahani’s Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP). “Nitish Kumar has killed us without using a knife. Our sole income through sand loading in the rivers has been stopped. Now, we have to rely entirely on small-scale fishing. On top of it, we are being fined for not paying hefty electricity bills. Many of us have got electricity bills of thousands. How are we supposed to pay it?” said Pappu Sahani in the Shadullapur vegetable mandi.
On the other hand, landed caste groups like Bhumihars and Rajputs swear their allegiance to Modi and issues like nationalism, Ram Mandir and Article 370. “There has been no terror-related incident in the last few years. We remember how the Congress was scared of Pakistan. But now it is the other way around. Pakistan knows that Modi ji is not someone who will take their attacks lying down,” said Rinku Singh, a potato trader in Shadullapur who belonged to the Bhumihar caste group.
Bhumihar traders in Shadullapur Mandi, Hajipur. Photo: Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta
“If you see, Modi ji has done nothing for Bihar over the last 10 years. There has been no development that would have improved our lives. But he has excelled in other areas. Now, India has a good stature globally. He has improved India’s reputation in the world,” said Narendra Pratap Singh, a Rajput who, too, trades in vegetables at the mandi.
Yadavs and Muslims, however, preferred the lantern, the RJD’s election symbol, over the helicopter. “Our vote will be to change a government that has worked only for the rich, and done nothing for Bihar. All of us are on the road because of Modi,” said Suresh Rai, a Yadav whose primary business is sand mining.
The complex caste-based equations in rural areas and widespread support in urban pockets appear to be helping Chirag, despite Shiv Chandra Ram’s spirited efforts to break the BJP’s traditional support base. Ram has lost to Pasupati Kumar Paras in 2019 by a margin of over two lakh votes.
Days ahead of the May 20, 2024 voting in Hajipur, Chirag gave an interesting interview to The Wire. He said that the pejorative remarks against Muslims by BJP leaders, including Modi, were “unnecessary” and that his alliance with the BJP is solely “issue-based”. His statement is a far cry from his positioning as Modi’s ‘Hanuman’ in the 2020 assembly polls. Chirag said that he had also expressed his disagreement within the NDA on matters like creating a ‘Hindu Rashtra’. Call it a tactical retreat or conditional support, but with such a shift, Chirag indicated that he may be aware of the churning among Dalits and EBCs, the two sections of the electorate that had made his father a politically influential leader in Bihar. His repositioning has also kept his doors open for different alliances in the 2025 state assembly polls.
Chirag is proving himself as a leader in his own right. By understanding his party’s strengths as a Dalit party, he is placing his cards tactfully, and with a political acumen that his father possessed in abundance. He is truly emerging as the rightful heir to the legacy of his father, who had earned the title of India’s most prescient political weathervane.
