By going with Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) led by Jamui MP Chirag Paswan and not the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) of Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, the Bharatiya Janata Party has made its choice clear: LJP-R has got five seats in the National Democratic Alliance this time.

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On July 8, 2021, Paras received a berth in the Narendra Modi cabinet, which was largely seen as a result of the BJP’s unwillingness to antagonise Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, whose party was reduced to the third position in the polls. Nitish, close to Paras, also blamed Chirag for the poor show in the 2020 assembly elections.

Isolated, Chirag hit the streets to connect with his supporters and refused invitations from Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal to join the Grand Alliance (GA).

“BJP’s deft manoeuvrings meant that Chirag never felt left out despite being denied the cabinet berth. Paras remained under the illusion that he was the preferred choice in the NDA. He won the early rounds. But in politics, things are strategically planned and Paras can feel that now. Chirag remained out of favour for a cabinet berth, but he called himself “Narendra Modi’s Hanuman”,” said Nawal Kishor Choudhary, a retired professor at Patna University.

In 2023, ahead of a meeting of NDA parties, Chirag bestowed the title upon himself. “He [the PM] lives in my heart. I am his Hanuman and will support him in all difficult situations,” he said after his party LJP-R rejoined the NDA.

The BJP is known for enabling generational power shifts within the party and in Chirag, it saw the future. “At 72, Paras may be past his prime, while Chirag is young and the heir of former Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan. Chirag’s patience and maturity during the period the BJP kept him waiting may have worked in his favour. Chirag hit the streets to build his organisation,” he added.

Chirag, on his part, always maintained that he was never in contention for a cabinet berth, but had his eye on Hajipur, a Parliamentary seat represented by his father nine times, before his uncle Paras won it in 2019.

Also read: Why a family fight is holding up seat-sharing talks in Bihar for BJP-led NDA

Paras, in turn, stuck with his stand that he would only contest from Hajipur, based on the wishes of his late brother. He reiterated the same while giving an ultimatum to the BJP.

Part of the problem was the fight over the legacy between Chirag and Paras. Ram Vilas Paswan formed the Lok Janshakti Party in 2000. The heavyweight leader in Bihar politics passed away in October 2020, just before assembly elections were held in the state.

Paras may have lost the BJP’s favour, but Chirag’s real challenge will be to join hands with Nitish during campaigning. Since 2020, Chirag has been a bitter critic of the CM and never denied his role in giving JD-U the jolt in the polls he thought it deserved.

Now, he seems ready to reconcile with Nitish. “With Nitish Kumar also in the NDA, the Opposition does not stand a chance. I thank BJP president JP Nadda for addressing all my concerns. In politics, there is no personal enmity,” Chirag said soon after the seat-sharing was announced.

Chirag’s separation from his uncle was further underlined when he said that he would field fresh faces, particularly favouring those who were with him during his days of political isolation. This spells trouble for Paras and the four other MPs who may find themselves out in the cold unless the NDA is able to accommodate them elsewhere.