Union Minister and President of the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP), Pashupati Kumar Paras, tendered his resignation from the Modi cabinet on Tuesday. This move comes in the wake of the BJP's agreement with his nephew, Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), regarding seat allocation for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in Bihar.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Monday announced a seat-sharing pact in Bihar for the Lok Sabha elections under which the BJP would contest 17 seats, JD (U) 16 and Chirag Paswan’s LJP (Ram Vilas) five. Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustanti Awam Morcha (HAM) and Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha will contest one seat each.
Announcing his resignation, Paras said he was thankful to Modi before expressing his displeasure over the treatment meted out to him.
The only ally in the Union Cabinet headed by Modi, he called the prime minister a big leader but added that the seat-sharing deal was an injustice to him and his party, despite his "honest" and "loyal" service to the National Democratic Alliance.
"Yesterday, the NDA alliance announced the list of 40 candidates for Bihar Lok Sabha...Our party had five MPs and I worked with the utmost sincerity. Injustice has been done to us and our party. Therefore, I resign from the post of Union Minister," Paras said.
The Lok Janshakti Party was established in 2000 under the leadership of former Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
The party splintered into two factions in October 2021—the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party—following a bitter spat between Chirag and Paras following the demise of Ram Vilas Pawan.
Chirag is the son, while Paras is the brother of Ram Vilas Paswan.