By Express News Service
PATNA: In a declaration, BJP in Bihar has opposed the installation of the bust of LJP founder and former Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan at the premises of his previous residence in Janpath, New Delhi.
Ram Vilas Paswan’s bust was installed hurriedly after a notice for eviction of the bungalow was served to Jamui MP and his son, Chirag Paswan, who now heads another faction of the LJP after his uncle split the party.
The 8-inch-tall bust of Ram Vilas Paswan was been installed at the center of the bungalow, a week ahead of Paswan’s first death anniversary on September 12.
The bungalow had been reallocated to Union Railway and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav after Paswan’s demise, by the central government, however, the Paswan family has been living there for the last 30 years.
The controversy started after the assembly polls strained political ties between the LJP and BJP, following which, the notice for eviction was served to Chirag Paswan.
Taking note of the bust’s installation, BJP national general secretary of OBC Morcha Dr Nikhil Anand in Patna said: “RV Paswan was a great leader..but the way Chirag Paswan has installed the bust of his father at his Delhi residence is wrong. All things have a process.”
He further said that Chirag Paswan should have followed the proper procedure and shown maturity.
“Chirag Paswan should have given a petition to the government’s concerned department before installation of his father’s bust. But he didn’t. This act is against the parliamentary procedures and he (Chirag Paswan) needs to be a little more sensitive,” Anand said, adding that tactics like this may spoil Chirag’s political prospects.
On other hand, showing solidarity to Chirag Paswan a day after meeting him, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday demanded the installation of Ram Vilas Paswan’s bust in Patna, along with the statue of former RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh.
“I demand the state government to install the statues of both Ram Vilas Paswan and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh in Patna as they were Bihar’s leaders,” Tejashwi said.
He also added that both these leaders’ death anniversaries should be included in the list of state-sponsored functions.
BJP leader Pramod Kumar responded to the ‘demand’ stating that there is no problem with following through with these installations but statues of the party’s stalwarts like Kailashpati Mishra and others should also be installed.