‘Inseparable from PM Modi as long as … ‘: Chirag Paswan on rift amid stance on lateral entry, caste census | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Union minister and the leader of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) Chirag Paswan on Friday rejected rumors about a potential rift between his party and the BJP, stating that he is inseparable from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In an interview with news agency PTI, Pawan said: “My love for Narendra Modi is unshakeable. I am inseparable from him, for as long as he is Prime Minister.” He made this remark in response to speculations triggered by his stance on issues like Waqf Board reforms, lateral entry into bureaucracy, and the creamy layer and sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes.

The union minister said that “as a matter of fact, my views always reflected the government’s stand.

A case in point is sending the Wakf Bill to the Joint Parliamentary Committee”.
He said that he was willing to participate in the upcoming Bihar assembly elections as a partner of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) “if the BJP so desires”, and downplayed the significance of his estranged uncle and president of the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party Pashupati Kumar Paras‘s recent meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah.
Rumors have been circulating that Paswan, once a compliant junior partner, had started to assert his influence amidst the declining fortunes of the BJP, which now lacks a majority in the Lok Sabha and relies on the support of allies to remain in power.

The LJP (RV) leader, however, refuted these speculations and clarified that his party was not opposed to participating in elections as an NDA ally in states such as Jharkhand.
“The fact is, our party has an alliance with BJP in Bihar and at the Centre. So, we will abide by coalition dharma at national level and in my home state. And although we have no strings attached in states like Jharkhand, it does not mean we are averse to a tie-up with BJP there. If the BJP and other NDA partners want us on board, we are game,” Paswan said.

He also dismissed rumors that emerged following a recent meeting between Paras, who had split the Lok Janshakti Party founded by his late father, Ram Vilas Paswan, in 2021, and Shah earlier this week.
Some leaders in the opposition’s INDIA bloc claimed that Shah was indirectly signaling to Paswan that he could not afford to defy the BJP, which had several advantages in its favor. Paswan, however, said, “Paras has lost all public support. He had been meeting all people ahead of Lok Sabha polls, too. That exercise proved to be of no avail”.
Paras, who leads the RLJP had given up his Union cabinet berth in protest after his party was not allocated any seats to contest in the Lok Sabha polls.
Meanwhile, Paswan, who had been the lone MP of LJP(RV), secured five seats for his party, winning all of them. Paswan himself won Hajipur, his late father’s stronghold, leaving Paras, who had won the seat in 2019, sidelined and disappointed.
However the 41-year-old actor had backed the call for a nationwide caste census on the grounds that it would help the government create better schemes to bring marginalized castes into the mainstream, amid increasing opposition demands for a nationwide caste census from the Centre.
Earlier he had said: “My party has always maintained its stance that it is in favor of a caste census.We want the caste census to happen. The reason for this is that often state and central governments develop schemes with caste considerations in mind. These schemes are designed to integrate these communities into the mainstream. In such cases, the government should have information about the population of each caste.”
“It should be available so that resources can be allocated proportionally. For any scheme or effort to integrate a caste into the mainstream, the government needs to have these figures,” he added.
When the Union minister was asked about the recent controversy surrounding Kangana Ranaut he said:”I think the matter should have been closed once the BJP made it clear that she had expressed a personal view which the party did not agree with”, referring to Ranaut’s interview alleging that girls were raped at the site of the farmers’ protests.
Paswan expressed disgust at Punjab leader Simran Simranjit Singh Mann’s taunt, suggesting that Ranaut must have “experienced rape”. “This is unacceptable. we cannot trivialise a crime that causes so much trauma to the victim. Especially at a time when the nation’s conscience has been rocked by the horrific incident involving a doctor in Kolkata, which has evoked such strong remarks from the President, the highest constitutional authority” he added.
(With input from agencies)