Chirag Paswan attends NDA meet on presidential poll preparation

The BJPs invitation to him to attend a ruling alliances meeting ahead of Parliaments budget session had invited a sharp reaction from Kumars party, leading to Paswan skipping it.JDU MPs. including its president Lalan Singh, also attended the meeting held in Parliament complex on Sunday.

Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan Sunday attended a meeting of the BJP-led NDA on the presidential poll preparation, a significant development as he had kept away from the ruling alliance's meetings after walking out of it during the 2020 Bihar assembly polls.

The second-term Lok Sabha MP was seen walking into the venue of the meeting along with several other MPs, mostly from the BJP, where a demonstration on the voting for the presidential poll was given on the eve of the election.

He had quit the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar due to his opposition to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United), the biggest NDA member after the BJP.

He had then claimed that he remained a BJP ally at the national level and had quit the grouping in Bihar for state-specific reasons.

However, the JD(U)'s stiff resistance ensured that he did not attend NDA meetings. The BJP's invitation to him to attend a ruling alliance's meeting ahead of Parliament's budget session had invited a sharp reaction from Kumar's party, leading to Paswan skipping it.

JD(U) MPs. including its president Lalan Singh, also attended the meeting held in Parliament complex on Sunday. Paswan's relations with the BJP had also soured after his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras split the Lok Janshakti Party and was joined by all other party MPs. The Paras faction was recognised as the real LJP in Lok Sabha, and he was sworn in as a minister in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. Chirag Paswan had also taken swipes at the BJP following his eviction from a government bungalow, first allotted to his father and stalwart Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan.