Six years after his passing, Ram Vilas Paswan — veteran politician, multi-term Union minister, and one of independent India's most enduring champions of marginalised communities — was remembered on Thursday, 8 October 2026, as tributes poured in from across the political spectrum. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the remembrance with a heartfelt post on X, honouring a leader whose life was defined by a single, unwavering mission: pulling the excluded into the mainstream.

Writing in Hindi, Prime Minister Modi offered his respects on Paswan's punyatithi (death anniversary), stating: 'His entire life was dedicated to public welfare. He made tireless efforts to connect the deprived sections of society with the mainstream of development. His contribution to the nation will always be remembered.'

A life built in service of the marginalised

Ram Vilas Paswan, born into a Dalit family in Khagaria, Bihar, rose through decades of grassroots activism and electoral politics to become one of the most recognisable faces of social justice in Indian public life. A record-breaking winner from the Hajipur constituency, he served as a Union minister across governments of starkly different ideological colours — a rare feat that earned him the reputation of a consummate political survivor and, more meaningfully, a persistent advocate regardless of who held power.

Paswan held portfolios including Food and Consumer Affairs, Chemicals and Fertilisers, and Steel — ministries with direct consequence for the everyday lives of ordinary and low-income Indians. He founded and led the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), which became a key vehicle for Dalit political assertion in Bihar and at the national level. He passed away on 8 October 2020.

Modi's tribute and the BJP-LJP alliance

Prime Minister Modi's tribute carries weight beyond sentiment. The BJP and the LJP — now led by Paswan's son, Chirag Paswan, who serves in the Union Cabinet — have been coalition partners, and the relationship between the two parties has shaped Bihar's electoral arithmetic for years. Remembering Ram Vilas Paswan on his death anniversary is both a genuine mark of respect and a reaffirmation of a political compact that has proven durable.

Chirag Paswan has consciously positioned himself as his father's ideological heir, keeping social justice and Dalit welfare at the centre of the LJP's platform. Today's tribute from the Prime Minister underlines that the legacy of the elder Paswan remains politically and morally significant — not just in Bihar, but nationally.

Ram Vilas Paswan's life was proof that political longevity, when anchored in purpose, leaves something more lasting than a seat count. The question now is how faithfully that purpose endures in the institutions and alliances he helped build.