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Union Minister Chirag Paswan on Friday rejected rumours of a rift between his Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas and the Bharatiya Janata Party, asserting that he views himself as "inseparable" from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In an interview to PTI, Paswan said he was willing to contest the upcoming Bihar assembly polls as an NDA partner "if the BJP so desires", and made light of estranged uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras' recent meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
"My love for Narendra Modi is unshakeable. I am inseparable from him, for as long as he is Prime Minister", said Paswan, when asked about speculations triggered by his stance on issues like Wakf Board reforms, lateral entry into bureaucracy and creamy layer and sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes.
He pointed out "as a matter of fact, my views always reflected the government's stand. A case in point is sending the Wakf Bill to the Joint Parliamentary Committee".
Speculations have been rife that Paswan, formerly a docile junior ally, had begun to flex his muscles in the backdrop of a decline in fortunes of the BJP, which is now short of majority in Lok Sabha, and depends on allies' support to stay in power.
However, the LJP-RV chief dismissed the speculations and made it clear that his party was not averse to contesting polls, in states like Jharkhand, as an NDA partner.
"The fact is, our party has an alliance with BJP in Bihar and at the Centre. So, we will abide by coalition dharma at national level and in my home state. And although we have no strings attached in states like Jharkhand, it does not mean we are averse to a tie-up with BJP there. If the BJP and other NDA partners want us on board, we are game", the Union Minister said.
He also scoffed at rumours that have followed the meeting between Paras, who had in 2021 split the Lok Janshakti Party founded by his late father Ram Vilas Paswan, and Shah earlier this week.
Some leaders in the opposition INDIA bloc have claimed that Shah was indirectly sending a message across to Paswan that he could ill-afford to defy the BJP which had many aces up its sleeve.
Paswan, however, maintained "He (Paras) has lost all public support. He had been meeting all people ahead of Lok Sabha polls, too. That exercise proved to be of no avail".
Notably, Paras, who heads Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, had given up his Union cabinet berth in protest against his party not getting any seat to contest in the Lok Sabha polls.
Paswan, who was until then the lone MP of LJP(RV), got five seats, and the party went on to win all of these. Paswan himself grabbed Hajipur, the pocket borough of his late father, leaving Paras, who had won the seat in 2019, in a sulk.
The 41-year-old actor was also asked about the recent controversy around Kangana Ranaut, the BJP MP whom he calls an "old friend" and who was his co-actor in his only shot at Bollywood.
"I think the matter should have been closed once the BJP made it clear that she had expressed a personal view which the party did not agree with", said Paswan, referring to an interview in which Ranaut had alleged that girls were raped at the site where farmers were carrying out their protests, which had created a situation comparable to the restive Bangladesh.
Paswan, however, expressed disgust over Punjab leader Simran Simranjit Singh Mann's taunt that Ranaut seemed to have had an "experience of rape" herself.
"This is unacceptable", said Paswan, adding "we cannot trivialise a crime that causes so much trauma to the victim. Especially at a time when the nation's conscience has been rocked by the horrific incident involving a doctor in Kolkata, which has evoked such strong remarks from the President, the highest constitutional authority".