Patna (Bihar): In a major setback to the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), five out of its six Lok Sabha MPs have turned rebels as they want the party's incumbent chief Chirag Paswan to be ousted as the leader of the Parliamentary Party in the Lower House. Except for Chirag himself, all the other five MPs are set to quit the party as they wish to be led by Chirag's uncle and Hajipur MP Pashupati Paras. These MPs include Prince Raj, Chandan Singh, Veena Devi and Mehboob Ali Kaiser.
According to sources, Pashupati is miffed with Chirag as he was neglected by the LJP. Paras had served as the president of Bihar LJP and was also a minister in the Bihar government. He was also fielded as an MP candidate for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. However, later, Chirag replaced him as the Bihar LJP chief.
According to sources, the rebel MPs have conveyed their decision to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. They are likely to join hands with the JD(U). The LJP had caused a lot of damage to the JD(U) in the Bihar Assembly elections, costing about 25 seats. In the Assembly elections, the LJP had fielded candidates against the JD(U) on every seat. The current imbroglio in the LJP is considered an act of revenge by a JDU bigwig.
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Chirag has been facing a tough time in managing the LJP following the death of his father, former Union Minister and patron of LJP, Ram Vilas Paswan, a year ago. According to the reports, the rebel LJP MPs are discontented with Chirag's leadership. They believe Pashupati Kumar is a better leader. The LJP is a part of the ruling NDA at the Centre.
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Who are these five MPs?
Pashupati Kumar Paras: He is a five-time MLA from Alauli. Pashupati won his first Assembly election in 1977 as a JNP candidate. Later on, he swtiched over to the LKD, JP and LJP. He had served as the Minister of the Animal and Fisheries Resources Department, Bihar. He won the 2019 Parliamentary election from Hajipur and became a member of parliament. Apart from this, he has also been the state president of the Bihar unit of Lok Janshakti Party.
Prince Raj: He is an MP from the Samastipur Lok Sabha seat. He is also the state president of Bihar LJP. In 2015, at the age of 25, Prince contested the Rosda assembly election of Samastipur. However, then he was defeated in the election. Prince Raj remained active in politics with his father Ramchandra Paswan. After the death of Paswan, Prince contested in Samastipur on an LJP ticket in the by-election and registered a landslide victory.
Mehboob Ali Kaiser: Chaudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser began his political career with the Congress. He is the son of late Chaudhary Salahuddin, former cabinet minister of Bihar. He has served as the Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of Higher Education in the Government of Bihar. Joined Lok Janshakti Party before the 2014 general elections. Currently, he is the MP from Khagaria.
Veena Devi: Veena Devi is an MP from Vaishali. She has also been a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly. In the 2019 general election, she contested from Vaishali on Lok Janshakti Party ticket and reached the Lok Sabha by defeating late RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh.
Chandan Singh: Chandan Singh is an MP from Nawada. His biggest identity is that he is the brother of Surajbhan Singh, an LJP leader and a former MP.
