Patna: Union minister Chirag Paswan on Monday agreed with ally BJP's defence of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, whose remark that every woman should give birth to "at least three children" has triggered a controversy. The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader was addressing a press conference at the party office here, when journalists asked him about the comment and the BJP's contention that Bhagwat had only expressed concern about decline in population.
Paswan said, "It is a fact that a very low fertility rate can lead to extinction of a species. He (Bhagwat) has voiced concern over that. Fertility rate in many parts of the country has fallen below 2.1 which deserves a debate, just like in the past when an explosive rate of population growth had led to family planning measures."
He was also asked about the controversy that has arisen after a Rajasthan court admitted a petition which alleged that the renowned Sufi shrine at Ajmer was built on the site of a Shiva temple. The 42-year-old politician came out with the cryptic reply, "If false claims are being made, nobody needs to live in fear as it will be taken care of by the court. But, if there is some unsavoury truth, it must also come out."
When pointed out that similar claims were being made about the world-famous Taj Mahal at Agra, Paswan said, "I cannot comment on all such claims since I do not happen to be an investigating agency. But we can rest assured that all such claims, once made before the proper authority, will be accepted or rejected only after intense scrutiny."
The Hajipur MP was talking to the media with Abhishek Jha, the candidate of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) for a legislative council bypoll. Notably, the bypoll to Tirhut Graduates constituency, which fell vacant upon election to Lok Sabha of senior JD(U) leader Devesh Chandra Thakur, is witnessing a multi-cornered contest and a key contender is Paswan's former aide Rajesh Kumar Raushan who has entered the fray as an Independent.
Paswan, who is often blamed for the JD(U)'s debacle in 2020 assembly polls, however, insisted, "I have learnt from my late father Ram Vilas Paswan the quality of always being the dependable ally." He lambasted the opposition Congress-RJD combine for building "false narratives about Constitution being in danger" during the Lok Sabha polls.
"But Bihar had rejected their propaganda," claimed Paswan, highlighting the NDA's fine performance in the state where the BJP-led coalition grabbed 30 out of 40 seats. He, however, admitted that the NDA, which won a landslide victory in recent Maharashtra assembly polls, performed below par in Jharkhand, even as he expressed delight over his party having won a seat, for the first time, in the neighbouring state.
