Bihar: Overwhelmed with public support, Chirag Paswan now confident of success of 'ashirvad yatra'

HAJIPUR: Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) MP from Jamui Chirag Paswan on Monday said that he was overwhelmed with huge response from the people on the occasion of the birth anniversary of his father and founding member of the party late Ram Vilas Paswan.
Speaking at the launch of his 'ashirvad yatra' from Sultanpur village near Hajipur in Vaishali, Chirag said that he was confident about the success of his yatra as people from different sections of the society bestowed their blessings upon him like his father.“I have received more response from the people than what I had expected,” he said.
Taking a dig at his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, who spearheaded the coup in the party last month, Chirag said that he (Paras) should visit Hajipur to have a glimpse of the crowd that gathered on senior Paswan's birth anniversary at his 'karmabhoomi' Hajipur.
Hajipur is currently the Lok Sabha constituency of rebels' group leader Paras. Chirag accused Paras of betrayal both on the party front but also in the family. “He not only left me in a lurch after the death of my father but also alienated me from my cousin Prince Raj, the MP from Samastipur,” he added.
He stated in the same vein that now he has the support of the people and with their blessings he will be able to overcome the crisis. In an oblique reference to the JD(U), which he had earlier held responsible for the break up in the party, Chirag said, “When my own kin betrayed me, I have no status to show my strength to anyone else.”
The Mahatma Gandhi setu, which connects north Bihar with the state capital, remained chock-a-block due to the cavalcade of the MP. When asked about huge gathering at the 'ashirvad yatra' in violation of the Covid-19 pandemic guidelines, Vaishali SP Maneesh said that he was not aware of it as he had gone to Muzaffarpur to attend an official meeting with IG of Tirhut range.
Earlier, Chirag received a rousing welcome from his supporters at the Patna airport. However, Covid-19 pandemic norms were thrown to the wind as a large number of supporters of the MP barged into the airport premises with banners, posters and garlands in their hands to welcome their leader, who arrived from New Delhi. The city's traffic was also thrown out of gear.
As the supporters kept on shouting slogans like 'Chirag Paswan zindabad' and 'Ram Vilas Paswan amar rahe', the security personnel preferred to remain a silent spectator to the scene as the supporters of the MP outnumbered them. “What can we do under such a situation?,” a sub-inspector posted at the airport police station said.
Later, Chirag left for the Patna high court crossing in an open car where he was supposed to pay floral tributes to Dr B R Ambdkar at his statue. Not being allowed inside, he along with his supporters sat on a dharna for nearly 10 minutes. He set out for Hajipur after paying tribute to the departed leader from outside.
“The government can stop me from paying tribute to Dr Ambedkar but not from following his path. He said the party had informed the district administration about my scheduled visit, no step was taken to keep the gate of the park open.