Pashupati Kumar Paras elected as LJP leader in Lok Sabha

Pashupati Kumar Paras was on Monday unanimously elected as the leader of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) in the Lok Sabha, according to sources. The decision comes after five of the six MPs of the LJP joined hands against Paswan and rallied behind Paras. These MPs will be meeting Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla at 3pm today in Delhi.

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It has been reported that the 'rebels' have not been happy with the style of functioning of Chirag, who took over the party reins after his father, LJP founder and former Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan died in 2020.

"There are 6 MPs in our party. It was the desire of 5 MPs to save our party. So, I've not broken the party, I've saved it. Chirag Paswan is my nephew as well as the party's national president. I have no objection against him," Paras, who is currently representing the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat in Bihar, told reporters during a media interaction earlier in the day. However, he said that Paswan can continue to remain a member of the party

Amid the fast-paced developments, Chirag visited Paras' residence on Monday but couldn't meet his uncle as he was not present at that time, PTI reported. Chirag has not commented on the matter yet.

The removal of Chirag can also be directly linked to the poor performance of the LJP during the 2020 assembly elections in Bihar as it managed to win only one seat out of the 134 contested.

Meanwhile, Pashupati Kumar Paras also said on Monday that the LJP will be a part of the NDA. Contrary to his nephew, Paras also praised Bihar chief minister and Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar by saying he is a good leader and a development oriented man.