From acting to politics, Chirag Paswan has a penchant for risky gambits

PATNA: Party workers like to recount that LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan’s decision to join the NDA ahead of the general election in 2014 was influenced by his son Chirag, who had just joined politics after an unsuccessful stint in Bollywood
in 2012.

For a novice, party insiders say, he had a sharp sense of which way the wind was blowing, much like his father. So when Chirag began charting his own course ahead of the Bihar polls beginning with his sharp criticisms of NDA ally and CM Nitish Kumar, it came as no surprise when his Dalit icon father fully backed him in his decisions in tweets posted from his hospital bed.


The move from acting to politics, followed by the inevitable rise as the boss of the LJP in 2019, the 37-year-old Chirag had a relatively smooth journey till his life was rocked by the death of his ailing father on October 8, weeks before the assembly polls were to be held.

A B.Tech in computer science, Chirag now finds himself at the threshold of a long political career without his father by his side. When his film career ended after his debut movie 'Mile Naa Mile Hum' did not do well, he could lean on his father’s shoulders who brought him into politics.

For Chirag, the transition from the glamorous world of cinema to politics was not a cakewalk. He began working with his seasoned parliamentarian father, who taught him the ropes of surviving the rough and tumble of Bihar politics.

LJP functionaries say, as JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar snapped ties with ally BJP and decided to contest the 2014 Lok Sabha polls on its own, Chirag’s prodding of his father to join hands with NDA proved successful. LJP contested the 2014 general election and registered tremendous success with Chirag entering the Lok Sabha winning the Jamui seat. He got re-elected from the same constituency in 2019.

LJP is now contesting the 2020 assembly election alone for the first time without the senior Paswan. The party had Chirag walked out of NDA ahead of the assembly polls and decided to go solo for obvious reasons. His father's relationship with Nitish had not been cordial since the February 2005 assembly election, which he showed as among the major reasons for walking out of NDA.

However, Chirag repeatedly said he was not against PM Narendra Modi and will remain loyal and faithful to him for his support and guidance. “I am PM Modi’s Hanuman, if I tear open my chest you can see his image there,” Chirag had said.

LJP MP from Hajipur and Chirag’s uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras said, “It was a part of a well-crafted strategy to fight the Bihar assembly election on our own. The party fielded its candidates in 143 assembly constituencies on the recommendation of the party's parliamentary board.”

He, however, admitted that candidates have been fielded on seats mostly being contested by JD(U). At some places, BJP nominees are also pitted against those of LJP.

Chirag has repeatedly said Nitish Kumar would no longer remain the CM of Bihar after November 10. “I can give you in writing that Nitish Kumar will not remain as CM after the results of the assembly polls were out,” he said.

By unseating his political rival Nitish to settle a personal score, the LJP chief is also likely to damage the NDA's poll prospects in the state. “In the process, he has virtually set his master's house on fire,” said a senior BJP leader, who didn't want to be named. The BJP leader’s words may just come true if the exit polls hold.

After LJP’s performance in the 2019 parliamentary election, an elated Ram Vilas appointed Chirag as the national president of the party in November last year.

“Now I am a relaxed man, Chirag is competent enough to deal with affairs of the party,” the senior Paswan had told this correspondent.