Patna: LJP chief and Union Minister Chirag Paswan launched a sharp attack on the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Saturday, accusing the party of treating the Muslim community as a “bonded vote bank” while denying them top political posts.
Paswan urged the Muslim community to break free from political exploitation and demand fair representation. He recalled his father, late Ram Vilas Paswan, who in 2005 had supported the idea of a Muslim Chief Minister in Bihar, but the RJD refused to back it.
“In 2005, my father sacrificed even his own party to support a Muslim Chief Minister, yet RJD did not stand by him,” Chirag Paswan said in a post on X. He added that the party’s stance has not changed even after two decades.
“RJD was unwilling to appoint a Muslim Chief Minister in 2005, and now in 2025, it still refuses to give Muslims either a Chief Minister or a Deputy Chief Minister,” he remarked, questioning RJD’s commitment to inclusion.
Paswan also criticized the Mahagathbandhan’s recent announcement, which named Tejashwi Yadav as its Chief Ministerial face and Mukesh Sahani as one of the Deputy Chief Ministers for the upcoming 2025 Bihar Assembly elections. The absence of a Muslim leader in any top post has triggered discontent, with several AIMIM leaders voicing disappointment.
He added, “For RJD, Muslims are just a vote bank. They talk about inclusion but practice exclusion.”
Chirag Paswan’s comments mark a clear challenge to RJD ahead of the Bihar polls, appealing directly to Muslim voters to demand respect, representation, and participation in the political process.
–IANS
