Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan, son of the late Ram Vilas Paswan, founder of the undivided LJP, acknowledged being a product of nepotism but described it as a double-edged sword.
The Union Minister of Food Processing Industries made this light-hearted admission in an ANI podcast. “I am a nepo kid, I can’t shy away from that fact. I am proud that I am the son of Ram Vilas Paswan Ji. For me its a matter of pride,” said Paswan.
He also described the advantage as having both pros and cons. “If you do good work, people say that it is because of your parents. So the credit is not yours. but if you do bad, then you will hear abuses. So you are always on a double-edged sword.” said the LJP leader.
“I am a Nepo kid, I can’t shy away from that fact,” says Union Minister Chirag Paswan#ANIPodcast #SmitaPrakash #ChiragPaswan #Bihar
Watch Full Episode Here: https://t.co/CY6PSwTtiN pic.twitter.com/n0LdMXfRsH
— ANI (@ANI) July 17, 2024
Paswan added that his rise to party chief wasn’t automatic; he had to demonstrate his capabilities. He referenced the division within the LJP led by his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, who joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 2020 following his father’s passing and his tenure as LJP President.
The former Bollywood actor also expressed that he believes the nepotism label no longer applies to him, as he experienced significant setbacks and had to rebuild his career from the ground up. “I lost everything – the party, the symbol, the organisation and the house we stayed in for three decades. So everything was taken away from me, I had to start from scratch, I did not even know how to make a new party,” Paswan added.
Hajipur MP Chirag Paswan acknowledged his mother, Reena Sharma, as his main source of support during his political comeback. He also criticized unnamed national news channels for prematurely writing off his political career.
Following the split from LJP, Chirag Paswan contested the 2020 Bihar assembly elections independently, focusing solely on challenging JD(U) candidates while remaining part of the NDA. He spearheaded his party’s resurgence through the “Ashirwad Yatra” in Bihar ahead of the 2024 general elections.
A vocal advocate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chirag Paswan’s party achieved a perfect strike rate within the NDA by winning all five seats in Bihar during the Lok Sabha polls.
