Pashupati Paras, Chirag Paswan’s rebel uncle who split his party and had him in a tight corner once, has been evicted from the building that had been his home for around 40 years. The white building close to the Patna airport was registered as the office of the Lok Janshakti Party by Mr Paras’s brother and Chirag Paswan’s father, late Ramvilas Paswan, as the party office. Unofficially it was also the home of Mr Paras, who lived there with his family.
But today, after much controversy, the Bihar government finally got the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party office vacated today. Mr Paras has shifted to his MLA Colony House.
The government’s building construction department had given a notice to Mr Paras, asking him to vacate the office. He was given time till November 13, but the office was vacated before the deadline.
Mr Paras, a former Union Minister, had pleaded before all the top BJP leaders in Delhi to save this house and office. But before Chirag Paswan’s stubbornness, no one prevailed, party sources said on strict condition of anonymity.
Chirag Paswan had been humiliated once after the split in the party.
Two years ago, he was evicted from the bungalow in Delhi that had almost become his father’s permanent home. Ramvilas Paswan was neighbour of Sonia Gandhi — his 12 Janpath Road residence was practically next door to 10 Janpath, one of the best-known addresses in Delhi.
But in March 2022, Chirag Paswan was evicted. Images from the spot showed the Paswan family’s belongings heaped on the road along with photos of Ram Vilas Paswan. “They threw my father’s photo… We had such cherished photos. They walked on the photos with slippers on…they wore slippers all over the beds,” Chirag Paswan said.
Later, he had blamed Pashupati Paras, who shortly before had split the Lok Janshakti Party and was rewarded with a cabinet berth.
Paswan Junior had accused him of looking the other way during the alleged mayhem by security forces during the eviction.
This time, the shoe was on the other foot. After Mr Paras’ faction of LJP was summarily dropped by the BJP during the seat sharing, and his own faction’s laudable performance, Chirag Paswan was not ready to relent.
Pashupati Paras had got the bungalow four decades ago during his tenure as an MLA. But later, after he lost an election, the house was allotted in the name of the Lok Janshakti Party.
Though Ramvilas Paswan had a separate home, where he lived with his wife and son, he was mostly to be found at the party office. It was also the first stop when the former Union minister flew home from Delhi.
