'Chirag Paswan Must Decide Where He Stands': Tejashwi Yadav

Paswan was removed as president of LJP by his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, and a faction in the party led by him.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday, 23 June urged the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan to re-examine his party's allyship with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), saying that he must decide which party he wants to side with.

"Chirag Paswan must now decide whom he wants to stand with - those abiding by the Bunch of Thoughts (the famous work by RSS ideologue MS Golwalkar) or those for whom the Constitution drafted by BR Ambedkar is supreme."

Tejashwi Yadav, quoted by PTI

Paswan was removed as president of the party by his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, and a faction in the party led by him.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar assembly, speaking to the press from the airport in Patna, went on to claim that the ruling JD(U) was the 'mastermind' behind the division in LJP.

He also reminded Paswan that his father and RJD head Lalu Prasad had 'helped Ram Vilas Paswan get a Rajya Sabha berth after he lost his own Lok Sabha seat,' news agency PTI reported.

'Nitish Kumar Never Knows Anything'

Yadav was also asked about Nitish Kumar's denial of any previous knowledge of the crisis in LJP, he castigated the leader saying, "Nitish Kumar never knows anything. Perhaps, he does not even read the papers. He must be unaware that in 27 out of 38 districts of Bihar, the price of petrol has crossed ₹ 100 per litre."

Yadav, who had been absent from the political scene in Bihar ever since his success in the assembly polls, said that his absence was owing to his ailing father.

He said, "The ruling dispensation must be aware that I am a beta (son) along with being a neta (leader). Moreover, what would I have been able to do for the people here when even those in power had been forbidden from venturing out."

The remark came in the background of the Bihar cabinet urging leaders to not go on tours amid the COVID-19 lockdown.

He also suggested that his father, who presently resides in the national capital, may be able to visit Patna 'very soon'.

(With inputs from PTI)