He set a combative tone in his initial encounter with the media following the party split, identifying himself as a “sher ka beta” (lion’s cub) and asserting that he will fight for the cause of the party founded by his father, Ram Vilas Paswan.
In a news conference on Wednesday, Lok Janshakti Party head Chirag Paswan blamed the Janata Dal (United) for the party’s breakup.
He also slammed the decisions made by his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras’ side, claiming that the party’s constitution forbids the other side from wielding such influence.
While criticizing the JD(U) for the split, he avoided questions about the BJP’s participation in the development, saying that it is an internal affair for which he will not seek redress from others. It will be a lengthy war, he said, as the group, he leads battles a faction of five other party MPs led by Paras for control of the LJP.
Even when his father was alive, Paswan claimed, the JD(U) was attempting to split the party. “While I was sick, a scheme was planned behind my back,” he stated. According to a story in the Hindustan Times, Paswan also wrote a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, requesting that he publish a circular stating that he is still the LJP’s lower house leader.
“Since Article 26 of the Lok Jan Shakti Party’s Constitution empowers the party’s Central Parliamentary Board to decide who will be the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha,” he wrote, “the decision of announcing Pashupati Kumar Paras MP as the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha is contrary to the provision of our party’s constitution.”
