Chirag Paswan's party to celebrate 25th foundation of LJP in Patna on Nov 28

Patna, Nov 24 (PTI) Union Minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (RV) on Monday announced that it will be celebrating, later this week, 25 years of foundation of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), which had ceased to exist following a split nearly five years ago.

The announcement was made at a press conference here by Raju Tiwari, an MLA and state president of LJP(RV), an old associate of Chirag's late father Ram Vilas Paswan, who had floated the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) way back in 2000.

"With Chirag Paswan as the chief guest, we will celebrate the foundation day of LJP at Bapu Sabhagar in Patna around 11 am on November 28, which will be attended by our MLAs and MPs," Tiwari told reporters here.

He also said, "Ram Vilas Paswan formed the LJP way back in 2000, and the LJP (RV) is now making its presence felt in Bihar's electoral landscape." Tiwari asserted that people of the state have placed trust in Chirag Paswan's "Bihar First" vision.

"We have got the highest number of MLAs since 2005, and are trusted with two cabinet ministry portfolios," he said.

The LJP(RV), a constituent of the NDA in Bihar, has secured 19 of the 28 seats it contested in the Bihar polls.

The NDA swept the recent elections by winning 202 of the 243 assembly seats in the state.

Sanjay Kumar and Sanjay Kumar Singh of the party are now ministers in the Bihar government.

Tiwari said that LJP(RV) leaders are taking the mandate as "a challenge to live up to the expectations of the people".

Notably, a few months after the demise of Ram Vilas Paswan in October 2021, his younger brother Pashupati Kumar Paras split the party, isolating Chirag, who was then its national president.

The uncle and the nephew approached the Election Commission with competing claims of their respective factions being the "real LJP". However, the EC froze the LJP's symbol and the two factions were recognised as separate parties.

Paras, whose outfit came to be known as Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, had earned a berth in the Union cabinet soon after the split. However, ahead of last year's Lok Sabha polls, the BJP chose to back Chirag, leaving the estranged uncle high and dry. PTI SUK NAC BDC