Hajipur LS Polls: Chirag Paswan aims to carry forward father's legacy, is pitted against RJD's Shiv Chandra Ram

In the general elections of 2024, Ram Vilas Paswan's son, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan, and Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) Shiv Chandra Ram will face each other stiff competition.

Hajipur, a seat reserved for Scheduled Castes, will go to the polls on May 20 and comprises six Assembly segments, including Hajipur, Lalganj, Mahua, Raja Pakar, Raghopur, and Mahnar. From 1977 to 2014, the seat was won eight times by Ram Vilas Paswan, who lost only twice, in 1984 and 2009.

In the general elections of 2024, Ram Vilas Paswan's son, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan, and Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) Shiv Chandra Ram will give each other stiff competition. Chirag's decision to shift his constituency from Jamui to Hajipur, which has been a stronghold for the LJP, is aimed at asserting his position as the political heir to his father.

In the 2019 elections, LJP candidate and Chirag Paswan's uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras emerged victorious, securing the seat for the first time, defeating RJD's Shiv Chandra Ram with a margin of 2,05,449 votes. He defeated Shiv Chandra Ram who got 3,35,861 votes (33.33%). The total number of valid votes polled was 10,06,817. Independent candidate Raj Kumar Paswan stood third with 30,797 votes (3.06%).

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan won the seat for the eighth time. He polled 4,55,652 votes with a vote share of 50.31%. Congress candidate Sanjeev Prasad Toni got 2,30,152 votes (25.41%) and was the runner-up. Hajipur goes to polls on May 20 in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections, while counting is due on June 4 along with the rest of the country.

Notably, the 40 seats in Bihar are undergoing polls in all seven phases. In 2019, the BJP-led NDA swept the state by winning 39 out of 40 seats, while Congress won just one seat. RJD, a formidable force in the state, failed to open its account. The Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance), the opposition coalition in Bihar, including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and Left parties, recently announced that the RJD, its largest constituent, will contest 26 out of the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats. As part of the NDA, BJP and JD(U) will contest 17 and 16 seats, respectively.

Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) is contesting five seats, and Jitan Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) are contesting one seat each. (ANI)

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