Former Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) founder Ram Vilas Paswan’s first death anniversary on Sunday marked his son and Jamui MP Chirag Paswan’s coming of age as a politician.

Chirag managed to bring the family together after a split in the party engineered by uncle and Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, ended his own isolation and left chief minister Nitish Kumar isolated.

He had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.

The Jamui MP revealed that he had unsuccessfully sought time to meet and invite Nitish as well.

The invitation card that he had printed mentioned him as the LJP national president and included Pashupati among the hosts.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called him on Saturday night and followed it up with an emotional letter recounting Ram Vilas’s rise as a leader who always remained concerned about villages, the poor, Dalits and the deprived.

Making Modi’s letter public on his social media accounts, Chirag said: “This letter provides strength to me and my family at this juncture of sorrow. May your love and blessings always be there.”

Taking Modi’s letter as a cue, top BJP leaders.

“Ram Vilas Paswan was a stalwart Dalit leader of Bihar and the country. With important elections including in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and other states round the corner, we could not have afforded to lose Chirag to the Opposition. Scheduled Caste votes matter,” a senior BJP leader said.

“I was hoping Nitish ji would come, but he did not. No phone, message or letter from him came either,” Chirag said.

Pashupati attended the rituals in the morning and stayed through the afternoon. “It is unfortunate Chirag sent me an invitation because till now I used to organise any function in the family. Still, I thank him for the invitation,” he said.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who too was invited, visited Chirag and was received with an embrace.