Former Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras was hospitalised in Patna, prompting a visit from his estranged nephew, Union Minister Chirag Paswan. Despite their political rivalry and family feud, Paswan inquired about his uncle's health.
Former Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras has been hospitalised in Patna since Tuesday morning, Union Minister Chirag Paswan has informed.
Union Minister Paswan visited his uncle, Pashupati Kumar Paras, in a hospital in Patna to inquire about his health, provide necessary instructions for appropriate treatment, and pray for his speedy recovery.
"My guardian, Uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras Ji, has been unwell since this morning. I visited a hospital in Patna to inquire about his health and provided necessary directions and instructions for appropriate treatment. I pray to God that he recovers soon," the Union minister posted on X in Hindi.
Political Background and LJP Leadership
Pashupati Kumar Paras is the former Union Minister of Food Processing Industries since 2021, and resigned in 2024 following disagreements within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). He is the older brother of late Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution, Ram Vilas Paswan.
Paras represented the Haijpur Lok Sabha constituency in 2019 under the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) ticket, succeeding his brother. Following the death of Ram Vilas Paswan in October 2020, Paras was inducted into the Union Cabinet.
Party Split and Family Feud
The following year in June 2021, there were questions raised over the leadership in LJP, with both Chirag Paswan and Pashupati Paras staking a claim to it. This eventually led to the party splitting into two factions, with the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) led by Chirag Paswan, and the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) headed by Pashupati Kumar Paras.
Paswan had said earlier that the split was engineered due to "personal and political ambitions" by Paras. Both relatives have changed their alliances, or contested elections independently over the years, both in Lok Sabha and Bihar assembly elections.
Both relatives have been estranged from each other owing to disagreements within the family. Chirag Paswan has repeatedly opened up about the situation, in which it is alleged that the wife of Paras, Shobha Devi, tried to evict Rajkumari Devi, wife of Ram Vilas Paswan, from her late husband's ancestral home. A case was filed in 2023 in Patna High Court, with the court ordering a stay in criminal proceedings.
NDA Exit and Electoral Alliances
In 2024, amid the preparations Lok Sabha elections, Pashupati Kumar Paras left the NDA due to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announcing a seat sharing deal with LJP(RV). Paras had said that an "injustice" had been done to his party due to the deal. He formally resigned as Union Minister and left the NDA on March 19, 2024.
In the 2025, during the Bihar assembly elections, the parties of the uncle and nephew faced off against each other. While Paswan had allied with the NDA, the RLJP contested elections independently due to disagreements with seat sharing within the Mahagathbandhan, which was led by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress. (ANI)
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