On the first death anniversary of former Union Minister Ramvilas Paswan, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Rashtriya Janata Dal patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi paid their tributes at 12 Janpath on Friday.
Mr. Singh’s visit assumes significance in the context of the recent split in the Lok Janshakti Party into factions supported by Ramvilas’ son Chirag Paswan and his brother Pashupati Nath Paras.
Mr. Paras got a ministerial berth in the recent Cabinet reshuffle, while Mr. Paswan was ignored. Since the split, the lingering question is whether Mr. Paswan is part of the National Democratic Alliance or not. Janata Dal (United), the NDA’s ally in Bihar, has been insistent on not allowing Mr. Paswan in any of the NDA deliberations, as he had fought the Bihar Assembly elections alone and against the JD(U)
Mr. Yadav’s visit is equally important, because the RJD patriarch has on several occasions called Mr. Paswan to join the RJD-led mahagathbandhan against the BJP-JD(U) alliance. Mr. Yadav spent a considerable amount of time at 12 Janpath.
Mr. Paswan remains non-committal about the overtures from the RJD, but a possibility of an alliance before the next Assembly elections in the State cannot be ruled out.
Mr. Gandhi also spent some time at the residence, speaking to both Mr. Paswan and Mr. Yadav. BSP MP Danish Ali was also present at the function.
Mr. Paras meanwhile had organised another function to mark the first death anniversary of his brother in Patna. The function was attended by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy CM and BJP leader Tarkishore Prasad and RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav. Also present was senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain.
