How Chirag Paswan is ensuring the LJP is not lost in the melee of larger parties ahead of 2019's elections
In February 2014, the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Son of LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan, Chirag Paswan, said the move was a compulsion born out of the 'humiliation' faced by the party at the hands of the Congress.
LJP had been a UPA constituent until then.
"We did our level best to remain with the UPA and even met Congress president [now UPA chairperson] Sonia Gandhi twice. Congress vice-president [now president] Rahul Gandhi didn't even bother to meet us. We were looking for a stronger alternative," Chirag had said. He was 31 years old then.
The LJP’s decision to join the NDA was, however, attributed to young Chirag’s far-sightedness, credited with sensing a wave building in Narendra Modi’s favour.
Together, the BJP, LJP and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) swept 31 seats out of 40 from Bihar. While the BJP won 22 of these seats, the LJP and RLSP won six and three respectively.
The LJP was duly rewarded by the BJP for coming on board pretty early, with Ram Vilas Paswan getting a cabinet berth as Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution minister.
However, since then, the LJP and its founder remained largely sidelined by the BJP — a complaint that most NDA constituents have been making for a long time now.
Despite Paswan being a Dalit leader and the BJP having no tall Dalit leader to match the political might of Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh, Paswan remained mostly ignored during the 2017 Assembly elections in the state. This, notwithstanding the fact that the estimated population of Dalits in Uttar Pradesh is nearly 22 per cent of the total.
Even during the 2014 Lok Sabha and 2015 Assembly elections in Bihar, his home state, Paswan was not involved much in day-to-day campaigning for the NDA.
His services were, however, sought in Modi’s home turf, Gujarat, to take on Jignesh Mevani’s Dalit appeal in the 2017 Assembly elections.
At a time when the savarna (upper caste) voters, who have thus far constituted the BJP’s strongest supporter base, appear disgruntled with the party, the loss of a constituent such as the LJP could prove to be a double whammy for the BJP.
What is, however, important is to look at how Chirag Paswan is steering the LJP’s political strategy since 2014.
The young leader was instrumental in forging the LJP-BJP alliance. It is Chirag once again who is apparently scripting his party’s rumoured pull-out.
Given the BJP’s defeat in the three states of the Hindi heartland — Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan — it is time for the NDA constituents, who, so far, remained quiet in the face of Modi’s undisputed popularity, to assert themselves.
The thing with young leaders is that they have the ability to take decisive steps. The 2014 alliance, which looked the obvious thing to have been done by the LJP, was in fact a bold step back then since while the UPA did look weak, nobody was then predicting such a massive victory for the BJP.
By writing to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, asking him to explain what benefits demonetisation brought to the country, Chirag has ensured that no matter how small, the LJP’s voice is not lost in the din being created by the larger parties now.
The letter is believed to have come after the LJP met the BJP brass on Thursday reportedly to discuss seat-sharing formulas for 2019.
Chirag's career in Bollywood may not have taken off after the box office failure of his debut Miley Naa Miley Hum — but this much is clear. He knows his politics.
Whether the LJP decides to leave the NDA and join the Mahagathbandhan, Member of Parliament from the Jamui constituency in Bihar, Chirag Paswan is a regional leader to watch out for.