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Patna: Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan is gearing up to reach out to all Dalit communities to bolster his party`s prospects in Bihar assembly election, due in October-November.
Dalits constitute 16.04 percent of the population of the state and play a dominant role in deciding the outcome of any poll in the state. On the other hand, Paswan is the second largest caste in Bihar after Yadav, as they constitute 5.311 percent of the state`s population.
LJP (RV)`s state executive held a meeting in Patna on Friday and unanimously passed a resolution for Chirag playing a role of a prominent leader of Bahujan-Bheem Samaj. The party has also planned to organise 'Bahujan-Bheem Sankalp Samagam' to reach out to Dalits more aggressively.
In another important issue, Chirag`s party through the resolution made it clear that it would contest the assembly election by keeping its independent identity intact. It is seen as LJP`s ploy to extract maximum number of seats from BJP in the assembly election. Chirag has asserted on several occasions that he would contest an election as an NDA ally.
Former professor of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Pushpendra Kumar Singh said, “Chirag understands very well that his party's growth in NDA will be limited if he depends only on Paswan votes and so he will definitely like to reach out to other Dalit castes.”
Although Chirag apparently commands a significant support of his caste members (Paswans), the dynamics would change if his uncle and former union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras joins the I.N.D.I.A bloc and makes inroads into Paswan votes with the help of its allies like RJD, Congress and left parties, he noted.
LJP leader is also facing challenge from Congress as the latter after appointing a Dalit (Mallikarjun Kharge) as its national president has now made a Dalit (Rajesh Kumar) its state president, he asserted.
Another challenge is that after BSP supremo Mayawati losing much of her clout in Bihar, her party`s votes in the election are more likely to go to INDIA bloc, he claimed.
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“Chirag will prefer to field his party candidates on seats in the state polls, mainly falling under the Lok Sabha constituencies of his five MPs,” he remarked.
