Union Minister Pashupati Paras, who was refused a ticket for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, is expected to resign from the Modi Cabinet on Tuesday after the National Democratic Alliance finalizes its seat-sharing agreement in Bihar. He has scheduled a press conference for this Wednesday to discuss his next steps.
The Bhartiya Janata Party received 17 seats, the Janata Dal-United JD(U) received 16, and Chirag Paswan’s Lok Jan Shakti Party (Ram Vilas) received five seats, according to the NDA’s seat-sharing formula, which was released on Monday for the Lok Sabha elections in Bihar. Nevertheless, Pashupati Paras’s Rashtriya Lok Jan Shakti Party, an important ally in the Modi administration at the federal level, was denied a seat. Two additional NDA allies, Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha, headed by Upendra Kushwaha, will compete for one seat each.
“Of the 40 seats available, the BJP will run for 17 and the JD(U) for 16. At a news conference held at the BJP headquarters, Vinod Tawde, the BJP’s Bihar election in-charge, announced that the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will run for five seats.
Chirag Paswan will run for the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat, which was given to the party as part of the seat-sharing arrangement, according to Bihar LJP (Ram Vilas) chairman Raju Tiwari. Talks are ongoing with Pashupati Paras, the head of the Bihar BJP, Samrat Choudhary stated, despite the fact that his LJP fraction was not included in the seat-sharing agreement.
Since 2021, Pashupati Paras has held the position of Minister for Food Processing Industries in the Modi administration. Since 2019, he has also been a member of the Lok Sabha representing the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat. Ram Vilas Paswan has historically been connected to the Hajipur seat.