LJP (Lok Janshakti Party) acts as a natural ally for the Dalits. This has been primarily due to “Ram Vilas Paswan’s” considerable efforts to be a helping hand for the Dalits. He shall be remembered as one of the fair politicians in the Indian political scenario, especially in his home state of Bihar.

LJP was formed in the year 2000 by Ram Vilas Paswan who had then severed ties with Nitish Kumar (Current Chief Minister of Bihar) and wished to be recognized separately in the Bihar political arena which has always been known to produce politicians for multitudes of castes.
With the changing face of Indian politics and in the age of digitization, the common man has more access to information and tends to ask more questions. General public wishes for policies and political parties that remain true to their promises and believe in the righteous acts. Bringing out a sole party that has been looking to not be dependent on any more alliances and carve out its own existence in the competitive political space is the next likely success run. Chirag Paswan (Son of Ram Vilas Paswan) who is a young face for Bihar and is looking to give a tough fight to parties like Janata Dal(U), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Hindustani Awam Morcha(HAM), and Congress to name a few. It has aligned itself with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and has declared that it is against the policies of the JD(U).

Looking at the way the things are setting up, HAM is also driven by the motive of tapping the Dalit section that has a huge hold in Bihar. On September 7, 2020, a strategic move was being discussed within LJP for consolidation of seats as Jatin Ram Manjhi’s recent alliance with NDA was to take a strong foot to further grow its existence in Bihar and also to win seats in the upcoming elections.

LJP to carve out a name of its own

With the elections set to be held in phases starting October 28, LJP sees itself in a tight spot and wishes to form its own identity as after their party meeting they feel that there is an ideological difference between the JD(U) and BJP mainly looking at things with a focus on seat distribution within the Bihar assembly.

LJP’s move has been seen as an advantage for them as Paswan’s community is one of the largest amongst Dalits in Bihar and by far people seem to be backing their political views and actions. As per the data of the last assembly elections in 2015, LJP won 2 seats with 28.79% votes out of the 42 seats it contested. Its overall vote share for the state was 4.8%.

Looking at the number trends, other than the 4 existing parties like BJP-JD(U) and the RJD-Congress, LJP has the highest vote share.

LJP and its alliances

LJP sought to build a strong bond with the Centre and put faith in the ideology of the current Indian Prime Minister. Both of the parties have had a healthy competition outside Bihar like in Jharkhand and Manipur. In Manipur, they have won some seats and joined hands with BJP but in their home ground, LJP wishes to carve out its own name and stand out from the rest.
Over the past few months, the relationship between JD(U) & LJP has deteriorated and LJP has held the Bihar government responsible for not properly handling the migrant crisis and Covid-19 pandemic measures. Looking at all the historical alliances formed, LJP has on many occasions supported both UPA and NDA governments. What seems to be circulating as a rumour mill is that the whole BJP and JD(U) alliance has shown ineffective actions to deal with the migrant worker crisis since the onset of Covid-19. This has led the voters to look up at better known political banners like the LJP, which could bring a huge blow to the big names in Bihar political arena.

Big changes in Bihar Politics

Chirag Paswan is being seen as the next big name to come shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Nitish Kumar. With Nitish Kumar seen to be in his last leg of a huge career as per BJP leaders, LJP as part of a larger strategic move,  can make its space-eating out of JD(U)’s seat share. They have drawn up a road map for JD(U) where after Nitish Kumar’s retirement the party will merge into BJP, side-lining the remaining leaders. Currently, there is an equal amount of seat-sharing between BJP and JD(U) while JD(U) is committed to sharing few seats with its smaller ally HAM.  So, it is in LJP’s favour to hold their heads high in being ambitious and to rock the boats of the Bihar ballot.

Changing Tide

With the elections around the corner, the majority party seat holders like JD(U) & BJP are seeing a change of tide with senior leaders jumping boats and going ahead to join LJP further hailing LJP’s success.

Last but not least, Chirag is seen to be holding the baton for the next big change in Bihar assembly, a possible promising name as the future Chief Minister of Bihar. His father, Ram Vilas Paswan’s recent demise on October 8 and his absence is not seen as a weak link within the party, rather it is to see his capability to handle much more and deliver as the promising face of Bihar Politics.

The author is a student member of the Amity Centre of Happiness.