Chirag Paswan To Contest Bihar Assembly Election: Should Nitish Kumar Be Worried?

Putting all the speculations to an end, Union Minister Chirag Paswan on Sunday declared that he will contest the upcoming Bihar assembly elections. However, he is yet to announce the seat. He said that it is for the people of Bihar to decide from which seat he should contest the Bihar elections due later this year.

Chirag's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) is a constituent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Apart from LJP (Ram Vilas), Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United), Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awami Morcha (HAM), and Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) are also part of the NDA.

Chirag Paswan, the minister of food processing industries, made the statement at a rally in Ara in Bhojpur district where his party, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), sounded the poll bugle. "I will contest the assembly polls in Bihar. I will contest not just in Bihar but for Bihar and its people. I am the son of Ram Vilas Paswan. I will realise the dreams of my father and work for 'Bihar first, Bihari first' to change Bihar," Chirag Paswan said at the Ara rally.

"It is for the people of Bihar to decide from which seat in the state I should contest the assembly elections. Whenever I take a political decision, I take it for the sake of the state and its people," he said.

"My alliance is only with the people of Bihar, I will contest on all 243 seats to make the NDA stronger. I will live and die for Bihar and for the people of the state... for the pride of the state," he added.

The return of Chirag Paswan, a three-time Member of Parliament and currently a Union Minister in the Modi government, is likely to have an impact on the political dynamics of Bihar and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). While his party is busy portraying Chirag Paswan as the "future of Bihar," the bid to contest the elections from an unreserved seat has fuelled specualtions of him eyeing the Chief Minister's post.

On these speculations, Chirag Paswan made it clear that his plans to contest the elections from an unreserved constituency should not be construed as his chief ministerial ambitions. "Let me make one thing very clear. My contest will only ensure a better strike rate for my party, which would help the NDA," Junior Paswan said.

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