Chirag Paswan’s Breakout Moment in Bihar’s Political Landscape
This year’s Bihar elections will be remembered not only for the NDA’s sweeping victory and the formidable partnership of JDU chief Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but also for the rise of a young leader who has firmly carved out his space in the state’s politics.
Chirag Paswan, chief of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), has delivered his strongest electoral performance yet. After negotiating hard for 29 seats within the NDA, he and his party are leading in 21 constituencies — an impressive 72% strike rate. The achievement comes on the heels of the LJP(RV)’s clean sweep in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. It marks a dramatic turnaround for a party that had been written off after its dismal 2020 Assembly performance.
In 2020, the then-undivided LJP had contested over 130 seats independently amid tensions with the JDU, winning just one. Despite posting a respectable vote share and denting JDU fortunes in several segments, political observers doubted Chirag’s ability to inherit and expand the towering legacy of his father, Ram Vilas Paswan. The party’s split in 2021, led by his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, only deepened those doubts.
But Chirag pushed back — rebuilding his organisation, rebranding himself as a “Yuva Bihari”, and staying rooted in his party’s traditional advocacy for Dalit communities. His efforts were rewarded in 2024, when the LJP(RV) won all five Lok Sabha seats it contested, re-establishing itself as a force with a 100% success rate.
Despite that performance, the BJP and JDU were initially unwilling to offer more than 20 Assembly seats to Chirag’s party. His reported outreach to Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party signalled he wouldn’t be taken lightly, and he eventually secured 29 constituencies within the NDA fold.
The results vindicate his strategy: this is LJP(RV)’s best-ever Assembly performance. The last time the party crossed 20 seats was in 2005 under Ram Vilas Paswan, when it contested 178 constituencies — making Chirag’s 2025 numbers even more striking.
Chirag has indicated that he is open to pursuing the deputy chief minister’s post while acknowledging that his supporters want to see him eventually helm the state. But he has also stressed the importance of sequencing his political moves.
Speaking to NDTV before the polls, he said his immediate priorities after Bihar include preparing for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh and Punjab elections, followed by helping secure a fourth term for PM Modi in 2029 and then focusing on the 2030 political roadmap.
He has also made it clear that he remains firmly aligned with Prime Minister Modi, dismissing speculation about possible tie-ups with other parties under different electoral scenarios.
Calling the mandate a “landslide win”, LJP(RV) MP Shambhavi Chaudhary credited the NDA’s development-oriented politics for the victory. When asked whether this performance positions Chirag as a future leader of the extremely backward classes by 2030, she said the party is currently focused on fulfilling its commitments.
