Form of words:
New Delhi: The dispute over the bungalow at 12, Janpath in Lutyens’ Delhi, where late Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Ram Vilas Paswan spent three decades of his life, and which also served as the LJP’s office, could be difficult for the ruling BJP. has gone.
Paswan’s son Chirag, who is fighting with his uncle to inherit his father’s political legacy, has been living at this address with his mother and the entire family for the past 30 years.
But with the Narendra Modi government ordering the Paswan family to vacate the bungalow, the fight took a turn last week when LJP supporters erected Paswan Sr.’s statue inside the bungalow, complicating the issue for the BJP.
According to sources, the deadline to vacate the bungalow was in October, but it has been extended by a few months.
According to BJP sources, the government is now hoping to vacate the bungalow allotted to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav last year after Paswan’s death, while trying to avoid Dalit anger ahead of next year’s Uttar Pradesh elections. is going. The late LJP chief had a great influence on the community.
The Urban Development Ministry has allotted another house – 23, North Avenue – to Chirag as he is the MP from Jamui in Bihar. While he had sought extension to vacate the Janpath bungalow, the installation of the statue has politicized the issue.
Sources said the BJP is looking at it with suspicion, as Chirag had visited the village of martyr Abdul Hameed in Ghazipur to announce his intention to contest the UP elections, after his uncle joined the central government in July. are ready for. Shock.
Chirag is currently on an expedition, Jan Ashirwad Yatra, in Bihar. He also plans to persuade his father anniversary LJP leaders said that on September 12 in Patna, three days later a grand program was organized in their native village, for which they have invited everyone from PM to CM.
Fully aware of the importance of Dalit votes in UP elections and in Bihar BJP is contemplating whether to let Chirag stay in the bungalow till the elections are over, or get the bungalow vacated by following the due process .
There has also been a demand from LJP to convert the bungalow into a memorial. Another member of NDA in Bihar Jitan Ram Manjhi of Hindustani Awam Morcha has supported this demand.
However, government sources say that the bungalow will not be converted into a memorial as per the Supreme Court’s decision.
‘Chirag will take the statue with him’
However, conflicting messages are coming from within the LJP regarding the entire matter.
Sources close to Chirag have denied that the former LJP chief has any problem with the Janpath House vacating, saying he will invent it whenever he moves forward.
“Chirag Paswan has no problem with vacating this bungalow. The only thing that is yet to be decided is when will he move from here. He will take this idol with him as soon as he shifts from here,” said a colleague of Chirag, who did not wish to be named.
He said, “There has been a demand from supporters that the place where Ram Vilas Paswan, a big Dalit leader who lived for so long, who was also very much in love with PM Modi, should be declared a memorial. However, the party has not made any such demand officially.
“Many of his supporters come here daily. If someone has installed an idol, how can we bring it down? This is only a statue of Ram Vilas Paswan Yes Which is in respect of crores of Dalits. What can anyone object to that?” LJP spokesperson Ashraf Ansari said.
Why doubt BJP?
According to BJP sources, installing an idol just before vacating the bungalow is part of a larger objective, and Chirag is trying to turn it into a political issue amid a fight with his uncle to claim his father’s legacy. could.
The BJP leadership will not want to get bogged down in this, especially as assembly elections are due in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP is fighting hard to defend its stronghold in eastern UP with the help of non-Jatav Dalits.
At the same time, the party leadership is also worried that if the fight over this bungalow intensifies, then Chirag, who has already been invited by Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav to join hands, may shift to the Mahagathbandhan of Bihar. .
The BJP would not like a broad coalition like the RJD, LJP and HAM to create new troubles for the BJP-Janata Dal (United) alliance in Bihar.
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LJP’s move in UP
LJP leaders said on the condition of anonymity that Chirag, who is yet to recover from the political setback of the BJP inducting his uncle-turned-slave Pashupati Paras into the Union cabinet, is considering the possibility of entering the UP elections. are.
On Friday, Chirag is going to visit Dhampur village in Ghazipur district, the birthplace of martyr Abdul Hameed, who won the Param Vir Chakra for his actions during the Indo-China 1965 war. The move comes as the LJP is exploring the possibility of a wider Dalit-Muslim alliance in UP with the help of a sympathy factor for its father. Thus it is planning to trample the BJP in the Dalit fort in the state.
An LJP leader in the Chirag faction told ThePrint that calls are being received from several places, including Ballia and Ghazipur, to organize Chirag’s rallies.
Till now Paswan was busy in Jan Ashirwad Yatra. However, now the UP unit of LJP has demanded to contest elections there. As the chairman of the party’s parliamentary board, only Chirag can decide on the number of seats to contest.
BJP on high alert, but no relief on bungalow
Also, LJP is ready to capture anniversary (death anniversary), according to the customs of Hindu Sanatan Dharma, on 12 September in Patna. LJP sources said there are plans to celebrate the death anniversary on a large scale later at Shahrabani in Bihar’s Khagaria district.
There is also a plan to celebrate the first death anniversary in October in UP. next stage of Jan Ashirwad Yatra will then be held.
Along with installing the bust statue, these events are keeping the BJP leadership on high alert as it is linking them with demands to convert the bungalow into a memorial.
According to BJP leaders, the LJP only wants to keep organizing such events on one pretext or the other to garner sympathy. In such a situation, BJP will take any step with utmost care and thoughtfulness.
However, no relief was given to vacate the bungalow of former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh at 12, Tughlaq Road in 2014 under similar circumstances. The government had also resorted to cutting off electricity and water supply to the house, which was occupied by Singh’s son and senior. Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh.
Sources said that former PM Chandrashekhar’s bungalow at 3, South Avenue was similarly vacated by the government. Later his son Neeraj Shekhar joined the BJP.
According to the government, it is only following the directions of the Supreme Court which has prohibited the conversion of government residences into memorials in the Lutyens’ Zone. The only exception to this rule is the Babu Jagjivan Ram National Foundation.
(Edited by Amit Upadhyay)
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