Patna: Rebel Lok Janshakti Party MP Pashupati Kumar Paras appeared to have scored a point on Thursday when he was unanimously elected as the new national president even as the faction headed by his cornered nephew Chirag Paswan dug in its heels and vowed to teach the "traitors" a lesson.
Paras was declared elected unopposed after no other candidate filed his nomination papers for the top post in the party which has been in turmoil since the Hajipur MP pulled off a stunning political coup earlier this week, catching Chirag off guard.
Addressing a crowded press conference later, Paras fumed when asked what would have late Ram Vilas Paswan, the partys founding president whose legacy is being invoked by both factions, made of the "chacha-bhatija" (uncle-nephew) fight.
"Things are decided in a political party as per democratic norms. And what would the uncle do if the nephew was hell-bent on making a tamasha (spectacle) of himself", he shot back.
Paras, Ram Vilas Paswans youngest brother, has of late been critical of the stance adopted by Chirag, the late leaders son, of professing loyalty towards the BJP but attacking JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar who enjoys the saffron partys full backing as the Bihar Chief Minister. Chirag and his supporters, however, claim that Paras was acting at the behest of Nitish Kumar, who wanted to extract revenge on the young LJP leader whose rebellion during the assembly polls had caused the JD(U)s tally to plummet.