A day after the National Democratic Alliance announced the seat-sharing arrangement agreed upon by its constituents, Pashupati Kumar Paras, president of the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP), resigned as a minister in the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Paras served as the Minister of Food Processing Industries since 2021 and is the incumbent Member of Parliament from the Hajipur constituency in Bihar.
Announcing his decision to resign as a Union minister at a press conference this morning, Paras said that he served the NDA with complete honesty and dedication but was upset by the “injustice” that had been meted out to him and his party.
“Yesterday, the NDA announced the seat-sharing agreement for the 40 Lok Sabha seats. We had said we will wait till the official announcement of the seat-sharing. Our party has 5 MPs. I have served the NDA with complete dedication and honesty. Even today, I am grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is a big leader, a national leader,” Paras said.
“But due to the injustice meted out to our party and me personally, I hereby resign as a minister of the Government of India. I will decide the future course of action after discussions with senior party leaders and workers,” he added.
The Paras faction of the undivided LJP was founded following differences between him and his nephew, Chirag Paswan, after the demise of Ram Vilas Paswan. In the seat-sharing deal announced by the NDA, the BJP will contest 17 seats, the JDU 16, the LJP (Ram Vilas) on 5 while one seat each has been left out for Jitan TRam Manjhi’s Hindutan Awam Morcha and Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha.