Patna: Former Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras on Friday squarely blamed nephew Chirag Paswan for his non-participation in the poll campaign in Hajipur, the seat he currently represents but is now being contested by the latter. Paras also said Chirag, the son of late Ram Vilas Paswan, has "never bothered to come and seek blessings" from his uncle.
"I have never been invited", was the curt reply of Paras, when he was asked about his absence in Hajipur from where Chirag has filed his nomination. The seat had earlier been represented by late Paswan nine times. Chirag's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) has got five seats in Bihar as per the seat-sharing formula decided by the BJP-led coalition.
The formula has left Paras high and dry and he has reacted by resigning from the Union cabinet but chosen to remain with the BJP-led NDA. "I stay just a few hundred metres away from the Patna airport where Chirag goes almost every day to catch his helicopter. He has never bothered to come and seek my blessings even though I am older than him. My party leaders have been campaigning for NDA candidates in Bihar", said Paras who leads the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP).
Chirag was the national president of Lok Janshakti Party, founded by late Paswan, until it was split in 2021. Paras had claimed that the split was a consequence of the "Chirag model", which had caused the NDA partner JD(U)'s tally to crash in the assembly polls held the year before.
Chirag had earlier told PTI that he was "not sure whether even time will be able to heal the wounds" inflicted upon him by his uncle, while profusely thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "always standing" by him to the extent it was possible. Commenting on PM Modi's roadshow in Patna on May 12, Paras said, "It will be a grand roadshow by the PM in Patna. The NDA will win 400 plus seats in the country and all 40 seats in Bihar".
