New Delhi, Sep 27 (NationPress) When Chirag Paswan set his sights on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and opted to contest the 2020 state elections with the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) independently, many anticipated his downfall.

His party secured just a single seat out of 135 candidates in Bihar's 243 assembly constituencies. He was regarded as a vote splitter; his actions unsettling the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) dynamics in approximately 30 seats.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) are the primary members of NDA, LJP – now LJP (Ram Vilas) – remains part of this coalition alongside others.

Paswan ventured alone in the last Assembly elections and faced consequences. However, he made a comeback in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where LJP-RV, part of NDA once more, won all five seats contested out of the state's 40.

The BJP and JD (U) each secured 12 seats. Meanwhile, his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, who had claimed the Ram Vilas Paswan legacy and the party, resigned from the cabinet and exited the NDA. This maneuver allowed Chirag to re-establish his position, despite previous Assembly losses.

Although Chirag has toned down his public criticism of Nitish Kumar, he continues to express discontent towards the Chief Minister. Reports indicate he might be requesting more seats than what is being offered within the NDA.

With the Assembly elections approaching, Chirag's choices may dictate the next chapter of his political career. For him to honor his late father's legacy, time may not be on his side.

Ram Vilas Paswan had an exceptional knack for discerning the public's mandate ahead of time.

He would often shift his allegiance to the winning alliance even before the voting commenced, as if predicting victory. It is believed that his absence of this intuition could lead to a premature political decline, especially after the JD (U) had significant influence over him in 2020.

In locations such as Khagaria, the JD (U) candidate lost to the Congress by a mere 3,000 votes, while the then LJP candidate gathered over 20,000 votes.

In Alauli, Nitish Kumar’s party fell behind the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate by approximately 2,700 votes, while Paswan’s party amassed over 26,000 votes.

In Maharajganj, the Congress outperformed JD(U) by fewer than 2,000 votes, and the LJP garnered 18,000 votes. In Matihani, where the LJP claimed its only seat, its candidate triumphed over the JD(U) opponent by just 333 votes.

The decline of Nitish Kumar’s party was largely attributed to a division in NDA votes. After contesting 115 seats, they won 43, trailing their alliance partner BJP (which won 74 of 110).

The principal opposition, RJD, emerged victorious, winning 75 of the 144 seats they contested as part of the Mahagathbandhan bloc. In contrast, JD (U) had won 71 assembly seats in the 2015 elections while allied with Lalu Prasad’s RJD.

During the 2020 elections, despite asserting that his loyalty to Prime Minister Narendra Modi was as unwavering as that of Hanuman for Lord Ram, Chirag’s candidates were accused of affecting the outcomes against BJP nominees.

For instance, in Bhagalpur, where the Congress candidate outperformed BJP by just over 1,000 votes, the LJP candidate received over 20,000 votes.

Reports suggest that he is requesting approximately 40 seats for his party this time, which many attribute to his confidence following a clean sweep in the last Lok Sabha elections.

The young Paswan – an MP from Hajipur – is even contemplating running for the Assembly elections himself, according to insiders.

Regardless of the strategies he possesses, he is keeping them close to his chest. However, for him, abandoning the NDA at this juncture could be detrimental, considering he has yet to inherit his father's political foresight.