Union Home Minister Amit Shah
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Ram Vilas Paswan dedicated his entire life to the deprived, exploited, and backward classes of society, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Wednesday.
Paying his tributes to the political stalwart on his death anniversary, Shah said that Paswan championed the rights of the deprived while he was still a student.
"Ram Vilas ji's compassionate personality and resolve for public service will forever remain alive in the memories of us all. On the death anniversary of Ram Vilas Paswan ji, I pay my respects to him," the minister said in a message on X.
A nine-term Lok Sabha member and two-time Rajya Sabha MP, Paswan entered the Parliament first time in 1977 from Hajipur riding an anti-Emergency wave.
A Dalit, he soon established himself as one of the pillars of Bihar politics.
With friends cutting across political lines, Paswan managed to hold key portfolios in Union cabinets across governments over his five-decade-long career.
He founded Lok Janshakti Party in 2000.
His son and Lok Sabha MP Chirag Paswan is now a minister in the BJP-led government and remains an important player in Bihar, where assembly polls will be held next month.
Paswan died on October 8, 2020.