Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras Will Fight LS Election from Hajipur in Bihar, Says His Party

Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras-led Lok Janshakti Party faction said on Thursday that he will contest from the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat and this stand has been conveyed to the Bharatiya Janata Party. The assertion from the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party came a day after another LJP faction headed by Chirag Paswan indicated that its leader will fight from the seat with support from the BJP.

Shravan Agarwal, the spokesperson of the Paras-led group, said the Union minister will contest from Hajipur as he is the incumbent MP. “We have conveyed this view to the BJP,” he said following a meeting of the party’s leaders.

The RLJP has been solidly supporting the BJP and the national party should back its claim, he added. Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan had said on Wednesday that his party had finalised a seat-sharing formula with the BJP for the Lok Sabha polls and all his “concerns” were addressed.

Following a meeting with BJP president J P Nadda, Paswan said he was satisfied with the talks, an indication that the ruling party favoured his claims over those of his uncle Paras. Sources said Paswan’s party may contest on five of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.

Paswan’s cousin, MP Prince Raj who is affiliated to Paras, said in a post on X that his party is an unbreakable part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is their leader. “His (Modi) decision is paramount for us,” he said.