Chirag Paswan backs Prashant Kishor’s development politics in Bihar

Union minister Chirag Paswan on Saturday said he supports the development-focused politics of Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor, who avoids caste and religious mobilisation. Speaking at his party office in Patna after Independence Day celebrations, the LJP(RV) chief said he stands for anyone who promises to take Bihar and Biharis forward. Paswan added that the coming years will be challenging for Kishor as well as the double-engine government in the state, as both must meet expectations.

Paswan is the sole BJP ally in Bihar to praise Kishor after his electoral debut in the Bankipur by-poll, a BJP bastion vacated by party president Nitin Nabin, now a Rajya Sabha MP. The LJP(RV) leader, rumoured to have sought Kishor's advice during his 2020 revolt against then chief minister Nitish Kumar, also criticised RJD working president Tejashwi Yadav for remaining absent during critical moments, referencing Yadav's failure to attend the monsoon session amid student protests. Paswan dismissed Yadav's call for a Raj Bhavan march, saying the opposition leader must understand his constitutional responsibility and cannot 'shoot and scoot'.

On Bihar's decade-old prohibition policy, which an NCAER study termed a 'failure', Paswan called for a thorough review of the law, citing loopholes and inadequate public awareness of alcoholism's ill effects. The liquor ban, enforced in April 2016, has become a political flashpoint as critics like Kishor attack 'farzi sharaab bandi' (fake liquor ban). Paswan did not support waiving the ban, which the NDA credits with winning women voters.