PATNA: A day after the first death anniversary of LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan, the statement of a BJP leader, who is a minister in the Bihar NDA government, about the continuation of Chirag Paswan in the NDA, has emerged as the latest flashpoint in a political tug of war between the BJP and HAM. Neeraj Singh Bablu, a minister in the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government, said: “Chirag Paswan is in the NDA, and hopefully, he would continue to be in the NDA”.
He said Chirag may have close ties to other political leaders, but he is in the NDA. The statement has not gone down well with BJP’s NDA ally Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM). Danish Rizwan, the spokesperson of HAM, reacted strongly to the statement.
After a large number of people turned up for Chirag Paswan’s Ashirwad Yatra, the tone and tenor of the BJP leadership about Chirag has changed drastically from being critical of him to complementing him.
“Leaders opposing Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar cannot be a part of the NDA,” Danish Rizwan said.
“Chirag Paswan had opposed Modi and Nitish Kumar in the last Assembly elections. How can he be a part of the NDA? Leaders supporting Chirag Paswan are opponents of Modi and Nitish Kumar,” he said. Chirag’s recent meeting with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has set off alarm bells in the BJP with some speculating that a political realignment is in the offing.