Chirag Paswan Says Bihar Opposition ‘Devoid of Issues’, Will Blame SIR for Decades

The opposition in Bihar, according to Union Minister Chirag Paswan, has been left "devoid of issues" in the lead-up to the assembly elections and may continue to protest the special, rigorous revision of the electoral records for the "next few decades."

According to PTI, when asked about the Election Commission's decision to release the final electoral roll following SIR, which has been fiercely contested by the RJD and Congress, the leader of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) made the statement.

"For quite some time, the opposition has been blaming its electoral failures on EVMs. Now, for the next few decades, they are likely to find fault with SIR," he said.

Due to numerous cases of duplication, the Hajipur MP stated that electoral rolls in Bihar, as well as anywhere else, have definitely needed to be straightened out.

According to Paswan, the names of numerous deceased people were still listed among the voters.

"These are concerns that the opposition has been sharing with us. Now that several lakh names have been knocked off, it does appear that anomalies have been removed. The opposition should realise that the Election Commission, which they keep attacking, is the very authority that they can approach for redressal of grievances," the Union Minister of Food Processing Industries said.

PTI reported that the final electoral roll for Bihar was released by the Election Commission on Tuesday. It had information on 7.42 crore voters, a decrease of almost 47 lakh since the SIR was introduced in June. This year, the state is scheduled to hold assembly elections.

"The welfare measures announced by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the recent past have left the opposition in Bihar devoid of any issues," the NDA partner stated cynically. We thus anticipate that they will continue to engage in politics on SIR.

Enquiries concerning Bhojpuri singer Pawan Singh's recent meetings with Rashtriya Lok Morcha president Upendra Kushwaha and Union Home Minister Amit Shah further sparked rumours that he will rejoin the NDA.

"Pawan Singh had long been in our coalition. Of course, there were some misunderstandings in the Lok Sabha polls last year, and he fought as an Independent. If he comes back, it will certainly strengthen the NDA," Paswan said.

Reportedly, the actor-singer-turned-politician had declined a BJP ticket from West Bengal's Asansol and joined the race from Karakat, where he significantly reduced the NDA's support and caused Kushwaha to lose badly, even though the seat went to the CPI(ML) Liberation.

The statement made by Prashant Kishor, the founder of the Jan Suraaj Party, that the leader of the LJP(RV) was "a fine leader, who could work for the progress of Bihar, but for the mistake he has committed by joining the NDA", was ridiculed by Paswan.

"It is for my prime minister and my party to decide which coalition I should be a part of. Bihar is getting a lot of attention from Narendra Modi, who has visited the state numerous times in the recent past," the Union minister said.

He also disclosed that "once the seat-sharing formula is finalised in the NDA, my party will take a decision on whether I or any other member of Parliament should contest assembly polls. We are rest assured of a deal that is respectable".

"In the Lok Sabha polls last year, my party was given five seats, though I was then the lone sitting MP. Thankfully, we lived up to expectations by winning all the seats," Paswan said.