Union Min Pashupati Paras Resigns After BJP’s Seat Sharing with Chirag Paswan

New Delhi: Union Minister Pashupati Paras resigned from the Modi cabinet on Tuesday. His resignation came a day after the BJP and LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan finalised a seat-sharing pact for the Lok Sabha elections in Bihar.

“I have tendered my resignation as Union Minister. Our party faced injustice in seat-sharing,” Pashupati Paras said.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) finalized the seat sharing for Lok Sabha elections in Bihar on Monday, giving 17 seats to the BJP, 16 to the JD (U) and five to Chirag Paswan’s LJP (Ram Vilas). Two other NDA allies — Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Upendra Kushwaha-led Rashtriya Lok Morcha — will contest one seat each.

Pashupati Paras’s LJP faction was given no seat. Paras had declared that he would contest from Hajipur, which had been a bone of contention between him and Chirag Paswan, his estranged nephew. BJP gave Hajipur to LJP (Ram Vilas), which irked Paras further.

The Lok Janshakti Party, which was led by Ram Vilas Paswan, split into two after his demise in 2020. His brother Paras leads the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) and his son Chirag Paswan the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas). Both factions are part of the NDA.