9 hours ago
Nitish keen to know about Chirag's assembly polls plan: Jamui MP
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Patna: CM
Nitish Kumar
has questioned Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan's intention to contest the upcoming
Bihar assembly elections
, despite already being a Union minister with, as he put it, "a bright and long political career ahead".
This was revealed by Jamui MP Arun Bharti, who spoke to this newspaper on Sunday.
According to Bharti, Nitish asked Chirag, "You are a Union minister, a young leader with a bright future. So, what is the need to contest the assembly elections now?" He also enquired about the constituency Chirag was considering, Bharti said.
Chirag has already announced that his party is preparing to contest all 243 assembly seats in Bihar, fuelling speculation about his future political course, particularly as younger leaders such as RJD's Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, BJP's Samrat Choudhary and Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor jostle for prominence in the state's political arena.
Bharti, who is also Chirag's brother-in-law, said the conversation took place in a cordial setting in Siwan ahead of PM Narendra Modi's rally on June 20. "I will go by the party's decision in this regard. I will come to seek your blessings before contesting the polls," he quoted Chirag as saying.
Bharti added that Chirag reiterated his oft-quoted phrase, "Bihar is calling", while explaining his vision for the state to Nitish.
"He told the CM that, like him, he too wants to be directly involved in state politics to take Bihar out of the RJD's 'jungle raj'," Bharti said.
Reacting to Chirag's political positioning, RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav remarked on Sunday, "Chirag should speak openly that he wants to become CM instead of doing the drama of 'Bihar is calling'."
Bharti claimed that the RJD was attempting to spread confusion about alleged rifts within the NDA, as they feared a united ruling alliance could reduce the opposition to fewer seats than it secured in the 2020 assembly polls.
"In fact, the LJP (RV) is set to host around two lakh people at Rajgir in CM Nitish's home district Nalanda, with his blessings, at the 'Bahujan Bhim Sankalp Samagam' on June 29," he said.
Bharti also referred to a letter Chirag wrote to Nitish on June 20, raising concerns about recent amendments to road accident compensation rules in Bihar. "The amendments made recently by the state govt are proving to be complicated and troublesome for the public in practice. In the earlier system, an immediate relief amount was provided to the victim's family through the DM or SDO concerned. Now, the compensation amount will be recovered from the vehicle owner or their insurance company via the transport department.
For this, one must go through the claim tribunal process, which is technical and time-consuming, making it impossible for people to get immediate relief," the letter read.
