Widely blamed for cutting into JD(U)'s votes during the 2020 Bihar assembly polls, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan said both his and Nitish Kumar's parties have the maturity to realise not to let the Opposition capitalise on any infighting in the NDA to ensure a third term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

At present, all NDA partners in Bihar are united and their only mission is to ensure all 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state for the alliance, he asserted.

The son of the late Ram Vilas Paswan, who seeks to claim his father's legacy, however, made it clear that bridges have been burnt with uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, whom he accused of betrayal for "personal ambitions", and cousin Prince Raj, whose "impertinent behaviour" has left him shocked.

In an interview with PTI, Paswan also debunked rumours of having explored possibilities with the RJD before the BJP declared him as its ally in Lok Sabha polls, although he said he shared excellent personal relations with Tejashwi Yadav and Lalu Prasad.

"As a student of politics, one of the first lessons I learnt is to place national interests above those of one's party or oneself. The national interest lies in ensuring that Narendra Modi gets a third term. We have the maturity, and so does the JD(U), to realise that we cannot afford to let the opposition capitalise on any infighting within the NDA," said the two-time MP from Jamui who has shifted base to Hajipur, his father's pocket borough.

He, however, added that at present, all NDA partners in Bihar are united and their only mission is to ensure all 40 Lok Sabha seats for the alliance.

"I am thankful to the PM and all NDA partners in the state for reposing trust in me. My party will put every ounce of effort to ensure that the NDA wins over 400 seats, and bags all 40 constituencies in Bihar," he said.

Hajipur is currently represented by Paras, who recently resigned from the Union cabinet after expressing ire over the BJP deciding to give more weightage to his nephew, who was left isolated after Paras' revolt three years ago.

Paswan was the national president of the Lok Janshakti Party until it split in 2021, with his uncle Paras claiming that the 'Chirag model' of putting up BJP rebels against JD(U) candidates caused the tally of Nitish Kumar's party to plummet due to vote-cutting in the 2020 assembly polls.

The JD(U) had won only 43 seats in the 2020 assembly polls, down from 71 in the previous election, while Paswan's party failed to secure any seat.

"Everybody in the party had supported my decision to go it alone in the last assembly election since we were offered only 15 seats, which was humiliating," Paswan said.

"I was recovering from the grief of my father's demise. I am proud that I fought like 'sher ka beta' (cub of a lion). My uncle had begun to bare his fangs soon after the death of my father. He was afraid I may be considered for the cabinet berth that fell vacant upon my father's death. So, he staged a rebellion and came up with all types of theories to defend his act of betrayal. It was quite clear that he did it all because of his ambitions," he said.

Paswan said he was "not sure whether time would heal the wounds" inflicted upon him by his uncle, while thanking Modi for "always standing by me" to the extent possible.

"After my father's death, being the eldest member of the family, it was his (Paras) responsibility to take everybody along. But he did not do that. The cracks that have developed in our relationship will remain. People tried to break me. But I am the son of Ram Vilas Paswan and cannot be broken. I will realise the dreams of my father and work for 'Bihar first, Bihari first' to change our state," Paswan said.

When asked about the possibility of reconciliation with his uncle in the future, Paswan said, "It does not depend solely on me. There are so many others involved, like my mother, my sisters and my bua (father's sister). I just can't say anything about what will happen in the future. He (Paras) should also be asked the same question." "There was a time when people mocked me for my admiration of the PM, and my likening of our relationship to the devotion of Lord Hanuman for Lord Ram. All those who were writing my political obituary have been silenced," said Paswan, whose party has got a gratifying share of five seats in Bihar.

On his relations with Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Yadav, he said, "My father and Lalu Prasad ji were close friends and both parties had fought several elections together. Similarly, Tejashwi is also a very close friend of mine. But politically, our parties are rivals. Personal friendship and politics are two different things." On the Opposition's charges that the ruling dispensation at the Centre was trying to mix religion with politics, Paswan said, "Religion is a personal affair and has nothing to do with politics. Religion should not be used for political gains at all." On the recently conducted caste survey in Bihar, he said, "I am in favour of caste survey but not of making the data public. The government must use the data for welfare measures to remove inequality in the society but not make it public because once you do that, its misuse starts." In Bihar, BJP will contest from 17 seats, the JD (U) 16, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) five and the HAM (S) of former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha one each during the seven-phase polls.

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