Patna: Union Minister Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) or LJP(RV) emerged as the largest gainer in the Bihar Assembly Elections 2025. Pulling up a big surprise, Paswan’s party is leading in 20 seats. As part of the ruling National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA’s) seat-sharing pact, the LJP(RV) contested on 30 seats.
However, in 2020, the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) contested the Bihar polls independently. The LJP witnessed a split after a poor show in the 2020 elections. One of its candidates managed to cross the victory line.
Time and again, Chirag Paswan has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, he reportedly had an issue with Janata Dal United’s (JDU’s) Nitish Kumar. The LPJ had dented the JDU’s vote share in the 2020 polls.
Split In LJP:
Months after the 2020 Bihar polls, a crisis erupted within the party after Pashupati Kumar Paras, the younger brother of Ram Vilas Paswan and Chirag’s uncle, took four MPs of the party along with him and named himself the party president. After Pashupatinath’s move, Chirag Paswan called a national executive meeting and removed the five rebel MPs, including his uncle, from the party’s primary membership.
The party was split into two factions – LJP(RV) and Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, led by Pashupatinath. ECI froze the original name and symbol of the erstwhile LJP and allotted new names and symbols to the LJP(RV) and the RLJP.
By 2024, Chirag Pawan’s faction joined the NDA, and he won the Lok Sabha polls from the Hajipur seat.
Latest Bihar Election Trends:
The NDA is heading towards a landslide victory. The ruling alliance is ahead in 201 seats, while the Opposition’s Mahagathbandhan is leading in only 36 seats. The BJP emerged as the single largest party with its candidates leading on 90 seats.