Chirag Paswan (37), the chief of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), is keeping up his relentless attack on Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in an orchestrated bid to keep the focus firmly on him in the upcoming three-phase Bihar elections.
His daily jibes are reminiscent of a pinch-hitter’s audacious last-minute flourish in an Indian Premier League (IPL) game, where the asking rate appears to be a tall order for a batsman with limited cricketing abilities.
Chirag is playing to the gallery and aiming for an improbable win in the 243-member Bihar assembly elections.
The LJP leader is acutely aware that his party is a small fry in the state politics, where the battlelines have been firmly drawn between the ruling Janata Dal (United) and its rival, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
He is targeting Kumar in a deft political strategy to grab the headlines, which otherwise would have focused on the outgoing CM or the RJD’s Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, the two key protagonists in the assembly polls.
On Tuesday, Chirag told media persons that Kumar should not fear a probe into rampant corruption, which he planned to initiate, if he managed to form the next state government.
“The truth is that after November 10, Kumar will no longer remain the CM as the winds of change are blowing in Bihar,” he said.
“Kumar is panicking about a mention of a probe. If he feels that he is not guilty for all the corruption that has been happening under his nose, let a probe ascertain the facts of the matter. I give him the benefit of doubt that he may be the only person in Bihar, who is not aware of corruption in the state. Everybody is the same in the eyes of law, even a CM. A former Bihar CM is languishing in a jail after his conviction in multiple corruption cases,” he said.
Chirag exuded confidence that the LJP “will win enough seats to form the next government with the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party)” to initiate a probe into rampant corruption under “Kumar’s watch”.
He hinted at the growing perception that the BJP is desperate to distance itself from the JD (U)’s “corrupt ways”.
He lapped up the JD (U) general secretary and state minister Sanjay Kumar Jha’s “jamura” (puppet) jibe.
Jha had hit back at Chirag for the latter’s statement that “Kumar will go to jail’.
“Jamura hota hai na, usko nachata hai madaari. (He is like a puppet dancing to the tunes of a juggler). He has reduced himself to a jamura,” Jha had said.
Chirag latched on the jamura jibe and said, “If I were a jamura, the juggler must be Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the same people have been describing me as the one propped up by the BJP.”
He further explained: “If this is how they pay respect to the country’s PM, it is their choice. If they are targeting me, they should do that, but don’t implicate the PM. They should also explain who they referred to as the juggler in this context.”
Chirag took a swipe at his detractors and said the same set of people had been against the LJP for the use of PM Modi’s picture in its poll campaign.
“Have I used PM Modi’s pictures anywhere? But, the picture of Kumar is nowhere to be seen in any of the BJP’s posters and banners. The JD (U)’s lies have been nailed. They cannot muzzle the truth by targeting me,” he alleged.
Bihar goes to polls on October 28, November 3 and 7.
The election results will be declared on November 10.
