Chirag Paswan takes oath as Minister in PM Modi's cabinet

New Delhi: Newly elected Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) MP Chirag Paswan, an alliance partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party was sworn in as Minister in the third term of PM Narendra Modi government.

Chirag Paswan, the son of the late former Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, has had a significant political journey. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014 and was a member of various committees during his tenure. From September 2020 onwards, he was a member of the Standing Committee on Industry.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Chirag Paswan won from the Hajipur Lok Sabha constituency.

In the 2014 elections, Chirag Paswan contested from the Jamui Lok Sabha seat. He won the seat, defeating the nearest rival, Sudhansu Shekhar Bhaskar of Rashtriya Janata Dal. Paswan retained his seat in the 2019 elections, defeating his nearest rival, Bhudeo Choudhary.

After the death of LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan in 2020, Chirag had a falling out with his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, and the LJP party was divided into two factions. One faction, LJP (Ram Vilas), is led by Chirag, while the other faction, Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP), is headed by Paras.

In the 2024 general election, a total of five LJP (Ram Vilas) MPs won the Lok Sabha elections in Bihar: Veena Devi, Arun Bharti, Shambhavi Choudhary, Rajesh Verma and Chirag Paswan.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA secured 293 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. BJP won 240 seats on its own. In the 543-strong lower house of the Indian parliament, 272 is the minimum majority figure.

In Bihar, BJP-led NDA delivered a fine performance, winning 29 out of the 40 seats. BJP and JDU won 12 seats each, while LJP (Ram Vilas) won all the five seats it contested. The RJD and Congress won four and three seats respectively.