"Not A Party Member": BJP Rejects Rakesh Singh Who Petitioned Against Chirag Paswan (Photo on X @iChiragPaswan)

A fresh controversy erupted when Rakesh Kumar Singh, who claimed himself a BJP leader, challenged Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) national president Chirag Paswan’s Lok Sabha membership in the court.

Rakesh Singh, a resident of Patna, demanded the revocation of Chirag Paswan’s Lok Sabha membership from Hajipur. A key NDA member, Chirag, won from Hajipur  in Bihar in the recently held Lok Sabha elections. Rakesh filed a petition in Patna High Court and Supreme Court, alleging the LJP leader did not give information about a serious cases, among others in his election affidavit. He also alleged that Chirag Paswan has an ancestral house in Shaharbanni, Khagaria.

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However, refuting the claims made by Rakesh Singh about its ally member, the Bihar BJP unit issued a letter stating it denies the allegations and that the petitioner is “neither a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party nor associated with our party in any direct or indirect manner.”

“According to some media reports, Rakesh Kumar Singh, who claims to be a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is attempting to gain cheap popularity by spreading misleading news and propaganda about the respected national president of our alliance’s esteemed ally, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), and the Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, Chirag Paswan,” reads the letter.

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Notably, as a key BJP ally in the parliament, the LJP had opposed the Centre’s recent notification on lateral entry into the appointment of top bureaucratic positions. Following opposition, the Union government withdrew the notification issued to the Union Public Service Commission. There were also reports regarding LJP’s opposition to the controversial Waqf Bill, introduced by the government recently.

As the BJP has no single majority in the parliament and is dependent on its allies to pass key bills, the Union government is facing obstacles it has not tasted during the last ten-year term, which saw the saffron party alone taking decisions without meaningful debates and discussions in the parliament.