BJP struggling to unite LJP factions

As the BJP draws its allies closer, it faces a hiccough in bringing together Pashupatinath Paras and Chirag Paswan, two claimants of the legacy of Ram Vilas Paswan and the Lok Janata Dal. Paswan’s brother, Pashupatinath has communicated to the BJP that he is not willing to reconcile with his nephew’s faction of the LJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

However, to stop the division of votes of the Paswan community among the Dalits in Bihar, the BJP has sought to bring the factions together. While the BJP wants uncle and nephew to come together to stop the division of votes, Paras is unwilling to reconcile, leaving the fight open for the political legacy of Ramvilas Paswan.

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Sources in the party said that he has expressed to the BJP his unwillingness to come together with Chirag, stating that while he brings in five MPs to the fold, Chirag is getting barely anything. Another bone of contention is the Hajipur seat from which Paswan Senior contested and won eight times — Pashupatinath won the seat the last time, and he intends to contest it the next time. He is also the food processing minister, a portfolio that his brother occupied. In all, Pashupatinath has a claim to his brother’s political legacy.

With the BJP in a tight spot in Bihar, the party is keen to bring in smaller players together — Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha, Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Dal and now the two factions of the LJP.

A senior party leader said that home minister Amit Shah is taking a personal interest in the case and that a merger is imminent. “It is just a matter of time, a solution is being worked out. Pashupatinath’s faction will do well to come together with Chirag, it will strengthen them as well as the leadership,” the leader said.

After Paswan Senior’s passing, Pashupatinath laid claim to his political legacy and the party. The BJP had earlier put its weight behind Pashupatinath’s faction, and the eviction of Chirag from Paswan Senior’s alloted bungalow in Lutyens for years, 12 Janpath, in April last year was a much-publicised humiliation. Chirag later floated the LJP (Rambilas Paswan) faction.