Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief and candidate from the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat Chirag Paswan has said in an exclusive interview with News18 that the politics of the opposition is based on the appeasement of Muslims. The 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar are undergoing polls in all seven phases of the general elections. As part of the National Democratic Alliance, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (United) will contest for 17 and 16 seats, respectively. Chirag Paswan’s party will contest five seats, and Jitan Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) will contest one seat each.
In the interview, Paswan also said that his fight has always been for Bihar first and Bihari first, while for opposition leaders like Tejashwi Yadav, it is always family first. Edited excerpts:
Your father late Ram Vilas Paswan represented Hajipur for a long time since 1977 and then he gave the baton to your uncle Paras. But you, despite winning Jamui two times, fought hard against your uncle. Why Hajipur and not Jamui?
I never fought with my uncle. Yes, I wanted to serve the people of Hajipur because of my father and to carry forward his work. It was my responsibility to take over and fulfill the work that was left over.
Your opponent Shiv Chandra Ram says that he has the advantage of being the son of Hajipur and he can bag the upper caste vote also because of the Munna Shukla factor. What’s your calculation keeping caste data in mind?
I have no calculation. I am just seeking the blessings of the people. I don’t have any equation of upper and lower caste and don’t see caste as a factor. I am a Bihari and I seek blessings.
4 out of 6 assembly seats of the Hajipur Lok Sabha constituency went to the mahagathbandhan. Why will people vote for you? What is your agenda?
The agenda is development. The people of Hajipur will vote for my father’s work and the work which I have done. In 10 years, Jamui has become the number 1 aspirational constituency in the country according to the Niti Aayog. It was in the 99th position. Looking at my work, people believe that I can deliver.
Your father gave a railway zonal office to Hajipur. But many long-distance trains don’t stop here. People have to catch a train to Delhi from Patna. Are you going to raise this issue?
These are things that are yet to be done. My father has worked a lot in this constituency but some works are left and I am working on these issues. I have to fulfill the dreams of my father.
Bananas of Hajipur are famous across the country but no industrialisation has been done so far. Do you have any vision to get some industries here?
Yes, when the same bananas go down south, they are converted into banana chips. If we have a processing and packaging unit in Hajipur, it will be beneficial for the farmers and generate more revenue. Certainly, industrial development is one of our agendas.
Tejashwi Yadav is doing a one-man show in this election garnering huge crowds wherever he goes. Do you think he is going to dent the NDA in Bihar with his job card?
Yes, you rightly said that he is doing a one-man show in Bihar. This exposes the INDI alliance. No one from his allies is accompanying him in the campaign. No senior leader of Congress shares the stage with him. Rahul Gandhi and Kharge came only once. On the other side, our PM has been visiting Bihar in every phase.
Tejashwi called you selfish and said that your house was taken away, your father’s statue was toppled, and a rift was created between you and your uncle, yet you chose to become the Hanuman of PM Modi.
He is younger than me. I give him all liberty to speak whatever he wishes. My fight was never for my house or car and other luxuries. My fight has always been for Bihar first and Bihari first. These guys won’t understand this because for them it’s family first.
Allegations of selling tickets and promoting nepotism were made by your own party members who in big numbers resigned from your party. What’s your explanation?
There is no explanation. I respect the feelings of those who left me. They wanted to contest but I can’t accommodate all as I am contesting only five seats. I understand that they worked hard and expected to get tickets but I had limitations. Nevertheless, I respect their decision. Having said that, the answer to the allegations will be out on June 4.
Your opposition INDIA accuses the PM of being a dictator. They also say that if NDA comes to power, then the Constitution will be changed and democracy will perish. What’s your counter?
The ones who actually imposed the Emergency in 1975 are talking about democracy. Why will anybody demolish the Constitution? My PM was Gujarat’s CM three times because of this Constitution. He is going to become the PM of this country for a third time because of this Constitution.
On the one hand, the PM says that the day he will do Hindu-Muslim, he will leave public life, and on the other hand Lalu Prasad advocates Muslim reservation in full. Has the issue of reservation become a major factor in this election?
Who all are actually disrespecting the Constitution? It’s clearly mentioned in the Constitution that reservation won’t be given on the basis of religion. The people for whom they are concerned are already getting reservations. The SC and backward-class Muslims are already getting reservations. The poor upper-caste Muslims are also getting reservations. These statements are given just for appeasing the minorities. The politics of opposition is based on the appeasement of Muslims.
One chief minister of AAP and another one from JMM have already been in jail and recently a senior Congress minister of Jharkhand was arrested. Allegations are made that the NDA government wants to finish off the opposition. What is your view on this?
Let’s have faith in our judicial system. If someone is clean, no one will touch him or her, but if someone is corrupt, this is the Modi government, none will be spared.
Kejriwal is out on bail. He said that Amit Shah will become the PM next year when Modi ji turns 75. How do you see this statement and how much difference would Kejriwal’s bail make in this election?
See what happened to Swati Maliwal in CM Kejriwal’s house. It’s shameful what happened. He should be answering about that rather than commenting on my PM.
Just two days left in the fifth phase. What’s your message to the people?
The people of my state know well what is good and bad for them. I can see the caste barrier fading away. The people of my state are voting only and only for development and our Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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