The eviction of Lok Janshakti Party MP Chirag Paswan from the 12 Janpath bungalow in Delhi that was allotted to his father and former Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan set the political scene ablaze in Bihar on Sunday after videos of pictures and statuettes of Ram Vilas and Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar thrown out on the ground went viral on social media platforms.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav accused the BJP of insulting the Dalit leaders and alleged that it had betrayed Ram Vilas’s family, including son and Jamui MP Chirag Paswan. The family was staying in the bungalow at that time.
“LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan stood with the BJP till the end. His son Chirag used to assert that he was the Hanuman of the BJP, but it set his house on fire. This is the result of supporting the BJP,” Tejashwi said.
Tejashwhi, the leader of Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, had earlier tweeted a video showing statuettes of Ambedkar, as well as old and new photographs of Ram Vilas, strewn all over the campus of the vacated bungalow and even outside.
Some of the photographs showed him with other leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The central government’s team that went to get the residence of Ram Vilas Paswan, a lifelong well-wisher and supporter of the deprived, vacated, threw the statuettes of Bharat Ratna Ambedkar and the photographs of Padma Bhushan Ram Vilas Paswan on the road in an insulting manner. It insulted the Constitution and the Dalit community,” Tejashwi said.
Ram Vilas died in October 2020 at the age of 74. His family was asked to vacate the 12 Janpath bungalow last year.
Later, Chirag installed a bust of his father on the premises. Though he had denied any ulterior motive behind it, it was seen as a move to keep the bungalow with his family. There were also demands to declare the place as Ram Vilas’s memorial.
However, on March 30, a team of officials vacated it. Ram Vilas’s wife Reena Paswan approached Delhi High Court seeking a four-month stay, but it refused to interfere. Around 100 people used to stay in the spacious premises.
Chirag reached Patna on Sunday and expressed his anguish over the incident and the way the family was asked to vacate the residence.
“I have no lust for a bungalow or a ministerial berth, but I am hurt over the manner the residence was vacated. It seems there was a conspiracy to insult our family,” Chirag told reporters.
The Jamui MP accused Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, who happens to be his uncle, for hatching a conspiracy to evict him and his family from the bungalow.
“The central government had assured me and my mother that we could stay at the 12 Janpath residence, but it was vacated in a hurried manner a few days ago. The team that came to vacate it threw out the photographs of my father and statuettes of Ambedkar. People were trampling over them. This is very sad and the Dalit community is very angry over it,” Chirag said.
“We were made to vacate the bungalow despite the assurance from the Centre. Nitish’s hand could be behind this. My uncle Paras remained silent when we were being forced to vacate the place. He could also be a co-conspirator. Both of them split the LJP after my father’s death,” Chirag added.
The Jamui MP, who now leads LJP (Ram Vilas), said he received many calls from Bihar leaders cutting across the party lines after the incident. “I will soon announce whether I will go solo or enter into an alliance with the Congress and other parties,” he said.
Paswans are counted among the Scheduled Castes and account for around six per cent of the voters in Bihar. They had supported Ram Vilas and his LJP over the past decades. Chirag is trying to claim their support as a part of his legacy.
Sources said there were strong chances of Chirag entering into an alliance with the RJD and the Congress.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad is also known to have given his nod for such a move.
Former chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha Secular leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is an NDA partner, expressed annoyance over the disrespect shown to Ambedkar and Ram Vilas. He too shared a video of the incident on social media.
“Riots would have broken out in various cities if a religious book or idol of any god would have been trampled like this on the road instead of the statues of our messiah Babasaheb Ambedkar. Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah should take action against the people who have insulted Ambedkar’s statue,” Manjhi said on Sunday.
