Encouraged by win in Jharkhand, Chirag Paswan seeks bigger footprint

PATNA: Union minister Chirag Paswan's LJP (Ram Vilas) celebrated a 100% strike rate in Jharkhand after winning the lone seat allotted to it under the seat-sharing arrangement.

LJP had contested Chatra seat, fielding Janardan Paswan who secured a victory against RJD's Rashmi Prakash by a margin of 18,401 votes. Paswan garnered 1,09,019 votes against Prakash's 90,618. The seat was won by RJD's Satyanand Bhogta in the last assembly polls.

The victory followed Chirag's rallies and public meetings in eight locations, including Lesliganj, Latehar and Dhanbad.

Buoyed by this performance, LJP (RV) announced plans to expand its organisational presence across the country.

"We displayed a 100% strike rate in the recently held Lok Sabha elections, which still continues. We got one seat as part of the seat-sharing deal and we won it," party national spokesperson Rajesh Bhatt said on Sunday.

LJP (Ram Vilas) has two MLAs in Nagaland and one in Jharkhand. However, its lone legislator in Bihar, Raj Kumar Singh from Matihani seat, defected to JD(U) in April 2021.