Union Minister Paswan Expresses Wish To Contest Assembly Polls In Bihar

Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, Chirag Paswan, on Monday expressed his wish to play a ‘bigger role’ in Bihar and contest the Assembly Elections.

In an interview with ANI, Chirag Paswan said that he “sees himself in Bihar.”

The Union Minister said, “I see myself more in Bihar now. When you mention the ‘role’, there are many question marks around it. My role would be that of a strong supporter of the alliance and to make Bihar a developed state.”

Expressing his will to contest the elections, he said that the vision of ‘Bihar First, Bihari First’ cannot be fulfilled by being part of the Central government.

“I want to contest the Bihar Assembly Elections. Having grown up in Delhi and worked in Mumbai, I have witnessed firsthand how Biharis are forced to live in difficult conditions in other states. I decided to return to Bihar to improve the condition of its people. ‘Bihar First, Bihari First’ isn’t possible at the Centre, I will have to return to Bihar,” he said.

Pawan, however, pointed out that his party, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), is yet to decide whether he will contest the Assembly election.

“There is a question mark because the party is yet to decide on it. There is a discussion within the party about whether the party will benefit from my contesting the elections. Many parties, including the BJP, have done this experiment when the MPs and Union Ministers have contested the Assembly elections. Sometimes it has been seen that if a big leader contests the elections, the party’s whole system goes into managing their election, it may harm the party,” he told ANI.

There have been speculations around Chirag Paswan’s role in the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar.

This began when, in June, while addressing a rally in Bihar, Paswan announced that he would contest the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls. Addressing a public gathering in Arrah, Paswan declared that his party would support the NDA in all 243 assembly seats to ensure its victory.

“For those who ask from where I will contest, I want to tell you that my party, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), and I will contest on 243 seats to make NDA candidates win and strengthen the NDA alliance. My goal is that the NDA moves towards victory,” said Paswan.

Dismissing speculations that he is aiming for the Chief Ministerial post, the LJP (Ram Vilas) party leader stated that Nitish Kumar will remain leader of the alliance in the State.

He told ANI, “My trust is in CM Nitish Kumar. Bihar public calls him ‘sushasan babu'” (ANI)