The Janata Dal United on Monday took potshots at Chirag Paswan after a split in his Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) came out in the open, saying that he was bearing the brunt of his own actions.

Chirag has been left cornered in a revolt led by his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, the LJP MP from Hajipur, and supported by four other party MPs, including nephew Prince Raj.

“There is a saying that you reap what you sow. Chirag is reaping the fruit of his own actions. He was heading a party, which was with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). But he adopted a stance that damaged it in the Assembly polls, leaving the leaders and party workers uneasy and dissatisfied,” JDU national president R.C.P. Singh told mediapersons in Patna.

The remarks by Singh, a Rajya Sabha member, were a reminder of last year when LJP chief Chirag had gone all out against Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in the run-up to the 2020 Assembly elections — criticising and attacking him despite being in the NDA.

Nitish was the face of the poll campaign of the NDA and the chief ministerial candidate, but Chirag fielded candidates in constituencies where the JDU was contesting.

It was seen not only as an attempt to undermine the JDU, but also to ensure that it gets fewer seats in comparison to ally BJP, which was said to be providing tacit support to Chirag and the LJP. His aim was to help BJP get the top place in the alliance, and ensure his rise to prominence in the state.

“Getting a high position in the party without hard work is easy, but to digest it is hard. If you do not respect your seniors and colleagues then what will happen? This was the reason that the LJP MPs distanced themselves from him (Chirag). A person has to be stable and cool to become a racehorse that is up for the long haul,” Singh said.

However, the JDU chief showered praises on LJP founder and former Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who died in October 2020.

“Ram Vilas ji was a good person. He established the LJP. His coordination with the NDA was better and due to it the alliance managed to win 39 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar (in 2019),” Singh added.

The JDU leader refused to speak on speculation on the breakaway LJP leaders joining his party.

Meanwhile, the BJP, whom ally JDU had blamed for encouraging the LJP to go against it in the Bihar Assembly elections, tried to distance itself from Chirag.

“Chirag was taking all the decisions on his own during the state polls. His decisions helped the (Opposition) Grand Alliance. The LJP leaders and workers were angry with him since then,” BJP spokesperson Prem Ranjan Patel said.