A day after the coup in the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), both factions claimed its ownership on Tuesday. The party’s national executive, chaired by president Chirag Paswan, removed the five rebelling MPs from the party, while the faction headed by his uncle, Pashupati Nath Paras, claimed to have elected a new working president, finalising Mr. Paswan’s ouster.
A notice released by the Paswan faction claimed that at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, a national executive meet was called by the party in which all five MPs, including Mr. Paras and Mr. Paswan’s cousin Prince Raj, were removed from the primary membership of the party. The notice is signed by party secretary general Abdul Khaliq.
The other faction claimed that they too had called a national executive and decided to appoint Suraj Bhan, elder brother of party MP Chandan Singh and a close associate of the late Ram Vilas Paswan, as the working president. They stated that Mr. Bhan would work till the time a permanent president is elected at a national executive meeting in Patna.
The question of party ownership though will be settled only by the Election Commission of India. Each side will have to prove that they have the numbers, both in terms of party lawmakers and registered members. The party symbol “bungalow” will be granted to the bigger faction.
Chirag posts letter on Twitter
Meanwhile, Mr Paswan broke his silence over the events. Posting a letter that he wrote in March to Mr. Paras on Twitter, he said he made every attempt to keep the party together.
The letter details the alleged attempts Mr. Paswan made to reach out to his uncle and the breakdown of communication. He claimed that the relationship turned sour after Mr. Paras was replaced by Prince Raj as the party’s Bihar State unit president. Mr. Raj’s appointment came soon after the death of his father, Ramchandra Paswan, who is the younger brother of both Ram Vilas Paswan and Mr. Paras.
The relationship further soured when Mr. Paswan was appointed party president in November 2019. Mr. Paras stayed at 12 Janpath, where the anointment took place, only for few days. Mr. Paswan claimed that since then, Mr. Paras rarely stopped by even to meet his own brother.
