Bihar: LJP Chief Chirag Paswan To Contest From Hajipur In Lok Sabha Polls

LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan on Wednesday formally announced that he would contest the LS poll from Hajipur constituency. After chairing his party's central parliamentary board meeting, Chirag said the leaders reached a consensus and approved his candidature as the party candidate from Hajipur. The party's Bihar parliamentary board suggested names for the remaining seats, which would be announced in 4-5 days.

On the possibility of his uncle and former Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras contesting the election from Hajipur, Chirag said he was ready to face all challenges. I will welcome it if my uncle contests an election against me. Challenges don't scare me, and I face all challenges firmly. I never become desperate in adverse situations.

My uncle has always claimed he would support the prime minister all his life. Now, he will have to decide whether he will become a stumbling block in the PM's target of getting 400+ seats.

RJD MLA Bharat Bind Joins NDA; Jolt To Opposition

The RJD on Friday suffered another jolt when its MLA Bharat Bind sat with NDA members in the Bihar assembly, triggering speculation that he would formally join the BJP in the near future. Bind, the RJD MLA from Bhabhua, along with deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary, reached the assembly and sat with the NDA members when the house was conducting its proceedings on the last day of the budget session. He said he crossed over to the ruling alliance as he was impressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's style of functioning and his personality.

Bind said he was not displeased with anybody, adding former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav was also doing a good job. On the other hand, Congress MLA Neetu Singh, who represents the Nawada's Hisua constituency, gave another shock to the opposition camp when she declared that she would consider switching the side if the BJP agreed to give her a ticket in the Lok Sabha election. “People want a local person to contest the Lok Sabha election from Nawada. In such a situation, I am ready to join any party, which fields me in the constituency,” she remarked.