PATNA: Union minister Chirag Paswan on Friday asserted that he did not wish to come across as “greedy” by demanding the deputy chief minister’s post, as he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allocating two berths to his Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) in the new Bihar cabinet.
Addressing a press conference here, Paswan also said he wished to expand the party’s footprint beyond Bihar as “an NDA partner” in states like West Bengal, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh.
“Our party won 19 seats out of the 29 we were given as part of the seat-sharing arrangements within the NDA. We contested those seats which were considered weak for the alliance. This was possible because of the people’s blessings and the support of the Prime Minister to our party."
“Now, the LJP (RV) has been given two berths in the new cabinet in Bihar. It’s enough. How much more greedy can Chirag Paswan be?” the Union minister said.
The NDA stormed back to power in Bihar, winning 202 seats in the 243-member assembly, with the BJP bagging 89, JD(U) 85, LJP(RV) 19, HAM 5, and RLM 4.
“In 2021, there was not one person around me. My party was split… And in 2024, the PM put faith in the party and gave us five seats to contest in the Lok Sabha polls. We won all five seats. If I now ask for something from the alliance, then no one will be more greedy than me,” Paswan said, when queried whether he would demand the post of deputy CM.
On the party’s expansion plans, the Hajipur MP said, “After winning 19 seats in the recently concluded assembly polls in Bihar, we are now seriously preparing to expand the party’s base in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab. We will contest the upcoming assembly elections there as part of the NDA.”