Jamui MP and Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas (LJP-RV) president Chirag Paswan on Thursday filed his nomination papers for the first time from the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat, which was represented by his father, the late Ram Vilas Paswan, eight times since he first won the seat in 1977.
Before filing his nomination, Mr. Chirag Paswan paid obeisance to a photograph of his late father, performed Ganesh puja at the family’s Patna residence, and also undertook rituals at a temple in Khagaul on his way to Hajipur.
“If my father were alive today, he would have given me an election symbol, but now he is no more. I have taken his blessings and [will go] all out to give a new identity to his karmbhoomi. I will fulfil every dream of my father that he had seen for the people of Hajipur,” Mr. Paswan posted on social media platform X before proceeding to Hajipur.
The battle for Ram Vilas Paswan’s political legacy has raged fiercely since his demise in 2020 between his brother, Pashupati Kumar Paras, and his son, Mr. Chirag Paswan. However, as time passed and matters settled, even the BJP, which had hitherto supported Mr. Paras, understood that it was the son and not the brother who would triumph in carrying the legacy forward.
In 2014, the BJP had entered into an alliance with the undivided LJP, which won six out of the seven Lok Sabha seats it contested. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the LJP won the six seats it contested in an alliance with the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and the BJP. However, five LJP MPs rallied against Mr. Paswan and joined hands with Mr. Paras in 2021. In the ongoing 2024 general election, Mr. Paras has not been able to secure a single seat while five seats have gone to Mr. Chirag Paswan in a seat-sharing arrangement within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar.
Mr. Chirag Paswan is locked in a direct contest against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Shiv Chandra Ram, who faced defeat in 2019 as well. The Hajipur seat has become a prestige issue for Mr. Paswan.
At present, the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat is represented by Mr. Paras but he was not present on the occasion of his nephew’s nomination. Union Minister Nityanand Rai and Patliputra MP Ram Kripal Yadav attended the event, apart from Mr. Chirag Paswan’s brother-in-law Arun Bharti and his mother Reena Paswan.
Mr. Paswan expressed his disappointment over his uncle’s absence during his nomination.
“It would have been good if he would have been present here today. He should have shown a big heart by forgetting the past and should have been present here. In fact, I called him but he did not pick up my call,” Mr. Chirag Paswan said at a road show in Hajipur after filing his nomination.
Meanwhile, the BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who is contesting against RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s daughter Rohini Acharya in Saran, also filed his nomination today.
Both Saran and Hajipur go to the polls in the fifth phase of the general elections on May 20.
