Chirag Paswan slams RJD for sidelining Muslims in leadership roles

Patna: Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan has accused the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of treating Muslims as a "bonded vote bank" while consistently denying them top political positions in Bihar.

His remarks come in the wake of the Mahagathbandhan’s recent announcement naming Tejashwi Yadav as its Chief Ministerial candidate and Mukesh Sahani as one of the Deputy Chief Ministerial nominees for the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections. The absence of a Muslim leader in any senior role within the alliance has sparked discontent, with several AIMIM leaders voicing disappointment.

Addressing reporters in Patna on Thursday, Paswan reiterated his father’s long-standing position. “This is the same RJD to whom my father in 2005 said that they should make a Muslim the Chief Minister” he said, accusing the party of double standards. “For them, Muslims are just a vote bank. They talk about inclusion but practice exclusion.”

Paswan also took to social media to recall that in 2005, his father, the late Ram Vilas Paswan, had sacrificed his own party’s interests to support the idea of a Muslim Chief Minister in Bihar, a proposal the RJD refused to endorse. “Even then, you did not support him,” he wrote on X.

“RJD was not ready for a Muslim Chief Minister even in 2005, and today in 2025, it is neither ready to give a Muslim Chief Minister nor a Deputy Chief Minister!,” he added, questioning the party’s commitment to representation.

Urging the Muslim community to demand fair political participation, Paswan said, “If you remain a bonded vote bank, how will you get respect and participation?” He called on voters to break free from what he described as decades of political marginalisation.

(Inputs from IANS)