Ara (Bihar), Jun 8 (PTI) Union Minister Chirag Paswan on Sunday asserted that it is for the people of Bihar to decide from which seat in the state he should contest the assembly elections due later this year.

Paswan, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief, made the statement at a rally in Ara in Bhojpur district where his party sounded the poll bugle.

“I will contest the assembly polls in Bihar. I will contest not just in Bihar but for Bihar and its people. I am the son of Ramvilas Paswan. I will realise the dreams of my father and work for ‘Bihar first, Bihari first’ to change Bihar,” recalling an old slogan he had coined ahead of the previous assembly polls in 2020.

At that time, he was heading the Lok Janshakti Party founded by his father. Later, the party split and the ECI allotted new names and symbols to the party factions led by him and his uncle Pashupati Nath Paras. The 42-year-old Hajpur MP said, “It is for the people of Bihar to decide from which seat in the state I should contest in the upcoming assembly elections. Whenever I take a political decision, I take it for the sake of the state and its people.” It is considered that Paswan’s rebellion in the 2020 polls led to the defeat of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), also a BJP ally, in several seats.

He has also made it clear that his plans to contest the elections preferably from an unreserved constituency should not be construed as his alleged chief ministerial ambition.

“Let me make one thing very clear. My contest will only ensure a better strike rate for my party, which would help the NDA,” he said. PTI NAC PKD NN