Big blow to Chirag Paswan as 200 active LJP members decide to join BJP

Patna, Mar 03: Looks like the humiliation suffered during the 2019 Assembly elections appear to be haunting the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) even now as more than 200 active party workers, including 150 Panchayat presidents from Bihar's West Champaran district, have decided to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

According to reports, troubles are mounting for LJP chief Chirag Paswan as the dismal performance in last year's state polls has brought the party on the verge of a split in a state where his late father Ram Vilas Paswan enjoyed a massive clout till his untimely demise in October 2019.

A 'Milan Samaroh' was organised in Bettiah, the district headquarters of West Champaran, where the 200 LJP leaders joined the saffron brigade in the presence of state BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Jaiswal.

More than 200 members of the LJP had joined the ruling Janata Dal (United) a while back, making this a bigger blow to 38-year-old Chirag.

This recent development could prove a bigger jolt to Chirag as he is backing the BJP at the Centre and has also proclaimed himself as the 'Hanuman' of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Among those who tendered their resignations to the LJP president on Tuesday morning are district president Shyam Nand Chaurashia and former district vice president Radhe Shyam Rai.

"Chirag Paswan became a puppet of some leaders. There is no internal democracy in the party and it is captured by few leaders. We believe in the ideology of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hence we are joining the BJP," Vishwanath Prasad Kushwaha, former state general secretary of LJP said.