Union Minister and LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan, 42, has managed to have his way in the ruling NDA’s seat-sharing arrangement for the November Bihar Assembly elections, securing 29 seats despite his party not having any MLAs in the outgoing House. In an interview with The Indian Express amidst his hectic campaigning, Chirag speaks on a range of issues, including his poll plank, the NDA alliance, and his future plans. Excerpts:
Absolutely. I am very happy and satisfied. I have no reason not to be happy, or I will be extremely thankless because for a party with zero MLAs, my Prime Minister has trusted me so much, and has given me 29 seats to contest, just like in the Lok Sabha elections when my party was given five seats.
What is the message behind this allotment to your party?
I don’t know what the message is… I had told BJP that the election is not happening within NDA and therefore who is getting how many seats was not the key issue. We have to fight the Opposition. I told BJP that I don’t want my Prime Minister’s party to contest less than 100 seats. I thought that in Mahagathbandhan, RJD would fight 125-130 seats… so BJP must contest over 100 seats. I thought JD(U) would contest 102-103 seats. In that case, what was left was only 42-43 seats. Then I came up with this formula that we must fix Assembly seats as per our Lok Sabha seats (allotted in 2024 polls). I knew that everyone would be satisfied with that formula. So HAM was given six and Upendra Kushwaha ji was given the same. In fact, I stand to lose one seat because I should have got 30 as per this formula. But I was happy with 29 because 20 years back my father (Ram Vilas) had won 29 MLAs and now I have the opportunity to do the same.
It is the first time that the JD(U) is not playing big brother in your alliance as both the Nitish-led party and the BJP are contesting equal number of seats (101). How do you view its significance?
I really don’t think it signifies anything. All these talks about big brother does not really matter. Eventually, each of us has an important role to play. I may not be able to cook daal (pulse) myself, but I am that salt without which daal would not taste good. So irrespective of the size of the party… we all have equal role to play.
There was a buzz that you may join hands with Prashant Kishor? Or was it just to scare the BJP during seat-sharing negotiations?
It was just a rumour. I don’t know why it got circulated. I would be the last person to do such a propaganda to threaten BJP. I don’t play this kind of pressure politics. Of course, I do know Prashant ji. But I don’t even remember when was the last time I talked to him. Yes, we do know each other well. But it does not mean that I was looking for an alternative alliance.
Several of your candidates are non-Dalits, even though your support base is considered to be mainly among the Dalit community. What are your plans?
I am an educated youth of the 21st century, born and brought up in Delhi. I worked in Mumbai. I really do not believe in such a caste scenario. For me, what matters is the Bihari representation, and who can actually represent the constituency. Like the Lok Sabha elections, where I wanted the young and educated persons to come up, I want the same for the Assembly polls too. My focus is on the MY samikaran (equation), which stands for Mahila and Yuva. My focus is to have more female candidates and more young faces.
Having said that, I am contesting in eight reserved seats, where I have given candidates accordingly. I do understand that this is the harsh reality that the candidates are seen through the caste lens in my state. I have tried to ensure that all my 29 candidates represent different sections — upper castes, Scheduled Castes, backwards etc. I have tried to balance them and give everyone representation.
Has the CM question been settled in the NDA?
I think there isn’t much issue here. We are heading for the election under the leadership of Nitish Kumar ji, our current Chief Minister. As Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji has said all the elected MLAs of NDA will decide who would lead the government. I am sure that all the MLAs will elect Nitish Kumar (as CM). Why we are not announcing this now is because it’s an alliance. The BJP made such announcements in states where the party was contesting alone… It’s democratic also (in an alliance) — all the partners should be given a platform to express their views. All the partners should sit together and eventually I think all the MLAs will elect Nitish Kumar ji again.
Was Nitish Kumar angry at you over the LJP(RV)’s seat share?
Not at all. Not even one message came to me saying that the CM is angry or that there was any seat issue. All the seats I got were the seats I wanted. The seats about which there are rumours, I didn’t want them. Seats like Sonbharsa were not in my list. They had asked me to give a pool of 34-35 seats and the 29 were picked from them. There was no conflict between me and JD(U) over any seats.
What promises have you made for the youth?
This is my third term as an MP. I was working in Mumbai and was settled there. Had I given a few more years in Bollywood I would have made a decent name for myself there. The only reason I came to politics was that I had witnessed from close quarters how Biharis are treated in other parts of the country, how they are humiliated, especially by the local party… Shiv Sena. The name Bihari itself was made like a gaali. The whole reason for which I have come to politics was Bihar and Biharis.
Being a third time member of Parliament, I realised that sitting in Delhi I cannot do much for Biharis and I need to go back to the state. I started working on a vision document which is for “Bihar First” and “Biharis First”. I know what I need to do – create job opportunities, increase revenue, improve health facilities, education infrastructure, and develop the state as a whole… That’s exactly what I will be working on immediately after we come to power. This will be the first time my party is going to be a strong partner of the government in Bihar. Except for a short period, we were never a strong part of the Bihar government.
You say Nitish Kumar is going to be the CM again. But there are concerns about his health. Do you think a younger CM can do better for Bihar? Are you a CM aspirant?
Right now, the phase that my state is going through is crucial, and it is important to have its leader (someone) who is experienced. Because I genuinely believe that the next five years is going to be the golden era for Bihar. I think the biggest reason my state could not develop was that for the longest time it used to have different governments as part of federal structure. For almost 27 years. I believe in the power of a double-engine sarkar – when the governments are on the same page, it works faster. So it’s important to have someone experienced to make the best use of a double-engine government in the coming five years. I believe that an experienced CM like Nitish Kumar is the only option now. Of course, in future, there will be space for a lot of youngsters to come up.
Some Opposition leaders have said that you and the BJP are working together to oust Nitish Kumar. What is your response?
This is what Mahagadbandan does. They are an alliance that cannot even find a common ground for the basic seat-sharing number and they are taking a dig at us. It’s the kind of narrative they want to create and spread that there is a divide between the NDA allies. Because they know when we are together they cannot defeat us. In 2020, there was a divided NDA. Chirag Paswan was contesting separately, as was Upendra Kushwaha. So they got an edge on some seats. This time it’s a united NDA and a divided Mahagathbandhan. So they want to create this feeling that we are divided. We in NDA are working together.
The BJP leaders, including PM Narendra Modi, are raking up “jungle raj” to target the Opposition. Would it still work, given that a significant chunk of voters might not be aware of it?
It makes it all the more important to tell such voters what is jungle raj. They don’t know what jungle raj was. Unless we tell them, they would not realise how important it is not to have it… I believe that the 1990s era (the Lalu Prasad era) is one of the most important reasons for the state’s backwardness. They have taken my state ages behind. If God forbid, they get elected again, Bihar will go decades behind. It’s the reason why it is important to tell them what was that era of corruption, lawlessness, and crime at its peak. So we have to tell the first-time voters about that era.