By Karuna Kumari
Patna: Chirag Paswan’s political arc in Bihar has taken a sharp upward turn. Once dismissed as a marginal disruptor after the 2020 assembly elections, the LJP (Ram Vilas) chief now finds himself at the centre of the NDA’s power matrix, buoyed by a commanding performance in the 2025 polls. After securing a 100% strike rate in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Chirag’s party is leading in 20 of the 28 seats it contested and has already won one seat, marking its strongest assembly showing since 2007.
The party’s state president, Raju Tiwari, sealed a decisive victory in Govindganj with a margin of 32,683 votes, underscoring the LJP’s growing footprint in regions where it previously struggled to break through.
Political observers say Chirag’s rise is all the more significant because he has long argued that the LJP (Ram Vilas) played a key role in weakening the NDA in 2020—particularly by cutting into JDU votes. With the party now firmly inside the alliance, the electoral arithmetic seems to have shifted in its favour. “I was always confident about the NDA’s performance,” Chirag said during celebrations in Patna. “The victory reflects people’s faith in the double-engine government of Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar, and also the overconfidence of the opposition.”
Until now, the LJP had no representation in the Bihar assembly, a stark contrast to its sudden emergence as the fourth-largest party after the BJP, JDU and RJD. This election also marked the first time the LJP and JDU contested together, smoothing over the acrimony that defined their 2020 feud when Chirag fielded candidates against Nitish Kumar’s party.
For Chirag, this moment represents a long-awaited consolidation. “This is our biggest performance in an assembly election since 2007,” he said, adding that the party has consistently delivered strong strike rates in national polls.
Though he continues to downplay any chief ministerial ambitions, Chirag remains committed to amplifying the LJP’s ideological plank of “Bihar First, Bihari First.” As NDA partners prepare for discussions on government formation, Chirag signalled that the coming days would be crucial in shaping the coalition’s structure. “We will work to take forward the vision of Bihar First, Bihari First,” he said. “The next few days will see important meetings on roles, responsibilities and the government’s formation.”
For a leader once labelled an outsider within his own alliance, Chirag Paswan now stands as one of its most influential players—proof that in Bihar’s shifting political landscape, fortunes can change swiftly and decisively.
