Will contest Uttar Pradesh, Punjab polls with or without BJP: Chirag Paswan

Union Minister Chirag Paswan. File | Photo Credit: PTI Ahead of the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab scheduled for early next year, key NDA ally and Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas) president Chirag Paswan, in an interview to The Hindu, said his party would contest in both States “with or without the BJP”.His assertion comes on the heels of his recent remarks that he feels ashamed to be part of the government in Bihar in the context of molestation cases involving minor girls in Jamui, Samastipur, Banka and other districts. Earlier, he had also questioned the Election Commission’s handling of concerns surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.These statements, read alongside his new Generation Z outreach campaign, “Youth Bole Toh”, launched in Patna on September 24, and followed by another rally under the banner in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, three days later, point to Mr. Paswan’s decision to maintain a nuanced distance from his senior ally, the BJP.Also Read | After Jamui and Samastipur, another video from Bihar’s Banka shows men harassing womanMr. Paswan said his party had been working in both States.“I am in alliance with the BJP both at the Centre and in Bihar. Naturally, I would want this alliance to extend to the two States. Having said that, considering the hard work we have put in to build our organisation in both States, we are not willing to bow out of the contest. If a seat-sharing arrangement cannot be arrived at in the two States under the NDA banner, then we are willing to contest alone,” Mr. Paswan said. In such a scenario, the party would contest all 117 seats in Punjab and all 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh.In both States, the LJP(RV) is seeking to occupy the space of a Dalit party, though Mr. Paswan often positioned himself as an acceptable face across castes instead of being seen solely as a Dalit leader.In Uttar Pradesh, the party is particularly targeting Passi voters, who are present in significant numbers in eastern and central Uttar Pradesh, the two regions where the BJP faced setbacks in the last Lok Sabha election.Responding to a question on Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance posing a strong challenge to the BJP-led Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Paswan said the two parties were drawing confidence from their performance in the Lok Sabha election.‘False narrative’“In the 2024 election, they [the SP-Congress alliance] succeeded in convincing weaker sections, especially Dalits, through a false narrative that the Constitution would be amended. They are trying to revive this narrative, but you cannot use the same trick in every election,” Mr. Paswan said.He further claimed that the Maharashtra results would be replicated in Uttar Pradesh.“In 2024, the NDA did badly in the State in the Lok Sabha election but swept the Assembly polls that followed. The Opposition’s false narrative will fail and we will see a Maharashtra-like situation in Uttar Pradesh too,” he said.Mr. Paswan said that while he wanted to take his “Youth Bole Toh” campaign across the country, for now he would focus on election-bound States. He sees it as a pressure valve that allows students to air their grievances about paper leaks and related issues, describing it as an attempt to contain the “volcano of complaints”.“I go there not as a Minister, but as an elder brother who is willing to listen,” Mr. Paswan said.He dismissed comparisons between his campaign and “Chhatron Ki Goonj”, led by Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, saying Mr. Gandhi’s efforts were negatively oriented while his campaign was focused on finding solutions. Published - September 29, 2026 09:58 pm IST