After Not Getting Any Seats In Bihar Under NDA, Pashupati Paras Resigns As Cabinet Minister; May Join RJD-Congress Alliance

Responding to not getting any seats under the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) chief Pashupati Paras resigned from the position of Cabinet Minister on Tuesday (19 March).

"Our party had five MPs and I worked with utmost sincerity... Injustice has been done with us and our party. Therefore, I resign from the post of Union Minister," Pashupati Paras said in a press conference.

Earlier, Paras had said that he would wait for the official declaration of NDA seat-sharing in Bihar for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and would take any decision only after the announcement.

Speculations are rife that Paras may now enter into the Mahagathbandhan alliance of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress. Earlier, Mahagathbandhan reportedly offered seats to Chirag Paswan.

However, Chirag Paswan is set to go with the NDA by contesting five seats in Bihar, namely, Hajipur, Vaishali, Samastipur, Khagariya and Jamui.

The undivided LJP contested six seats (Nawada along with above mentioned five seats) in the 2019 elections and won all of them. However, the party faced a split after founder Ram Vilas Paswan's death.

Pashupati Paras led the split by taking five MPs along with him, with Jamui MP Chirag Paswan left alone. Chirag Paswan's party subsequently got the name of LJP (Ramvilas) and Pashupati Paras's party came to be known as RLJP.

However, Chirag Paswan started getting positive signs months ago when Vaishali MP Veena Devi defected to join Chirag Paswan. Most of the MPs who went with Paras are likely to come back to Chirag.