Pashupati Paras on his side, Tejashwi claims he will join Mahagathbandhan

Patna: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday claimed that former Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, who recently announced his exit from the NDA, is likely to join the Mahagathbandhan ahead of the assembly polls in Bihar.

Yadav made the statement at the house of Paras, who heads Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, where he had gone on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Ram Vilas Paswan, the latter's elder brother.

"Pashupati Kumar Paras has been wishing to join the Mahagathbandhan. We too want him and all secular forces on our side. I have shared the sentiment with other allies. Former announcement would be in due course," said Yadav, who heads the INDIA bloc's coordination committee for the upcoming elections.

"Pashupati Kumar Paras has been a great organisation builder whom I have known since the days when late Paswan was alive. There have been close ties between our families. We all know what Paras had to put up with in the recent past," said the RJD leader.

Notably, Paras had split his late brother's Lok Janshakti Party months after his death, leaving the deceased leader's son Chirag Paswan isolated in the party. Later, the EC froze the LJP symbol and the factions headed by the uncle, who got a berth in the Union cabinet, and the nephew got recognised as separate political parties.

However, the BJP's decision to accommodate Chirag and his Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) ahead of last year's Lok Sabha polls caused Paras to resign from the cabinet.

Chirag went on to be elected from Hajipur, previously held by Paras, and became a minister in the Union cabinet.

Paras was made to vacate, by the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, the bungalow in Patna which had served as his party's office.

The bungalow was later allotted to the party of Chirag, leaving Paras licking his wounds and announcing his exit from the NDA in April this year.

Yadav also disclosed that talks were on with Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who wants the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha to contest Bihar polls as a part of the INDIA bloc.