Chirag Paswan's '243 seats' remark: BJP says LJP will contest as ally in Bihar; Congress predicts 'weather scientist' will leave alliance

Union minister Chirag Paswan's declaration that his Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) would field candidates for "all 243 seats" in poll-bound Bihar has prompted ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to offer their understanding of his statement, while the Congress has predicted that after the incumbent government is defeated, Paswan would leave the ruling NDA (National Democratic Alliance).According to senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain, Paswan meant that LJP would contest all 243 seats "as an NDA constituent.""Chirag Paswan is a strong ally of the BJP. He is minister in central government, we had fought the elections together, hence won 30 (out of 40 Lok Sabha) seats. This time as well, as an ally of NDA, they will be fighting on 243 seats; seat-sharing is another thing, we will fight together, and win 200 seats," Hussain told news agency PTI.On the other hand, the Congress, a member of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led opposition Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) said that the LJP chief's remark is "not a good sign" for the ruling coalition."Chirag Paswan is a Union minister and what he said is not a good sign for the NDA. On one side, they are saying that the NDA will contest the Bihar assembly elections together; on the other side, he is saying that he will contest on all 243 seats," Congress spokesperson Pramod Tiwari quipped.

"I think, under the leadership of CM Nitish Kumar, the BJP will be wiped out of Bihar this time and many of the 'weather scientists' will leave the NDA," he added.

Tiwari's "weather scientist" remark was an indirect reference to the actor-turned-politician's father, the late Ram Vilas Paswan, who always managed to ally with the winning side and secure a Cabinet seat for himself. Can Chirag Paswan influence Bihar assembly polls?LJP has five members (including Paswan) in the Lok Sabha from Bihar, out of NDA's 30 Lok Sabha MPs from the state.

The party won all five seats which it contested, and ended with a vote share of 6.5 per cent.In the previous 2020 assembly polls in Bihar, LJP fought independently, and gave candidates on 137 constituencies. While it secured only a single win, it ended up harming Janata Dal (United) of chief minister Nitish Kumar, a BJP ally. A post-poll study showed that LJP candidates impacted nearly 29 of the 58 constituencies that the JD(U) was trailing on.As a result, BJP emerged as the second-largest party in the state with 74 seats; only RJD (75) was ahead. JD(U) was third with only 43 wins, with BJP winning more seats than its partner for the first time.