Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) national president and former union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras on Monday announced his formal exit from the ruling National Democratic Alliance(NDA), accusing the NDA leadership of being unjust to him.
“I formally quit the NDA from today. I have been with NDA from 2014 till today, honestly. But, I was ignored, and the NDA did an injustice to us in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as we are a party espousing the cause of Dalits,” Paras told reporters on Monday after an event organised by his party at Bapu Sabhagar in Patna.
Paras said he remained silent for the sake of the ruling coalition for the last 6-8 months but had now decided to formally announce his exit, he added.
Paras also paid tribute to Babasaheb B R Ambedkar on his birth anniversary at the event, “ Sankalp Sammellan,” which was attended by former MP Surajbhan Singh, party’s state president Prince Raj Paswan, other former MPs, and senior leaders.
The RLJP chief has been upset with the NDA after his party was not given a single ticket in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, opting to deal with his nephew and Union minister Chirag Paswan, who heads the Lok Janshakti Party( RV). The junior Paswan’s party, a key constituent of the NDA, won all five Lok Sabha seats it contested in the last 2024 general election.
Paras, who resigned from the union cabinet in March, 2024 ahead of the national elections, later backed the NDA nominees in Bihar.
Paras and Chirag Paswan have been feuding over the political legacy of deceased former union minister and Lok Janshakti Party(LJP) founder Ram Vilas Paswan in 2021, leading to the LJP’s split.
Ram Vilas Paswan, Chirag Paswan’s father and Paras’s brother, died in October 2020.
Asked if he would join the Opposition’s grand alliance (GA) led by the RJD-Congress combine in Bihar. Paras did not clearly outline his plans.
“Right now, I am focusing on strengthening my party at the district level. Yes, we are trying to become strong in all 243 assembly seats in Bihar ahead of the polls. A decision on joining any coalition would be taken before the polls,” Paras said.
He, however, said his outfit would look forward to joining a new coalition, mainly the Mahagatbandhan, if it gets a respectable number of seats, and recalled how ailing RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav met him at his residence in January this year. “I have a long association with Laluji. We will decide on joining a coalition before the polls,” Paras said.