'Bihar, Bihari first': Chirag Paswan on contesting assembly polls

Union Minister Chirag Paswan announced his intention to contest the upcoming polls. He said that his primary reason for joining politics was to work for his home state, Bihar, and its people.

Ahead of the forthcoming assembly elections in Bihar, Union Minister Chirag Paswan on Monday announced his intention to contest the upcoming polls. He said that his primary reason for joining politics was to work for his home state, Bihar, and its people, which Paswan said would not be possible if he remained in Delhi.

"I have said previously that I haven't seen myself in national politics for long. The only reason I came into politics was Bihar and Biharis. My vision has always been 'Bihar first, Bihari first', and I always want Bihar to prosper and be at par with other developed states. After becoming an MP for the third time, I realised this would not be possible in Delhi. I had expressed my wish before the party to return to Bihar soon," Paswan, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief, told reporters here.

He further said that his party was assessing whether his contesting the upcoming Bihar assembly polls would benefit the party. He added that he would contest the assembly polls if the performance of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) improved.

"My party is still evaluating whether my party will benefit if I contest the Vidhan Sabha elections now... If my strike rate gets better and the performance of my alliance gets better, of which there are high chances, then I will definitely contest," Paswan said. "There is no vacancy for the CM post in Bihar. Nitish Kumar will become the CM after the elections," he added.

Paswan responded to his party's request to contest the upcoming Bihar Vidhan Sabha elections, stating that he will respect the party's decision, whatever it may be."I will obey my party's wishes. For now, we are yet to discuss it...,' he said.

On Sunday, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) MP Arun Bharti hinted at the possibility of Union Minister and party president Chirag Paswan contesting the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.

Bharti also revealed that during a recent state executive meeting, party leaders formally proposed that Paswan consider a larger role in Bihar politics.

"Chirag Paswan has said from every platform that Bihar is the centre of my politics...the whole of Bihar loves him. We had given him a formal proposal in the state executive meeting that he should come to Bihar and think about playing a bigger role. We are conducting a survey. The result of that survey will come, and if everything goes well, then I think that in the coming time, Chirag Paswan ji will seriously consider all these things and think about coming to Bihar and contesting elections," Bharti said.