Ram Vilas Paswan's Final Throw Of Dice

Ram Vilas Paswan was no fool. He knew very well about the ownership tussle going on beneath this veneer of congeniality.

At all costs, he wanted to keep the lid on the family drama. He did not want it to come in the way of his son's coronation.

A fascinating excerpt from Sobhana K Nair's Ram Vilas Paswan: The Weathervane of Indian Politics.

Political fortunes are fickle and Ram Vilas Paswan's life was a testimony to this. But this didn't stop him from getting complacent in the last few months of his life. One could blame it on old age or perhaps on the diseased body, he was certainly not the nimble footed novice of the 1970s.

In the months leading to his death, Paswan was content in the quiet belief that he had secured his party's future and his son, Chirag's political career.

On 5 November 2019, Chirag succeeded him as the national president of the party. At a press conference at 12 Janpath that day, the father placed the ceremonial turban on his son's head and benevolently smiled with relief having handed over the burden.

He would later brag that this was by far the most bloodless and convivial transition. 'Look at the Samajwadi Party. What an unseemly tug-of-war the father [Mulayam Singh] and son [Akhilesh Yadav] had.'

All this happened to the LJP too. Son and uncle Pashupati Paras [Paswan's younger brother] clashed. Within a year of his death, the twenty-year-old party that he had founded and built split into two - his son's Lok Janshakti Party (Paswan) and his brother Paras' Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party. But Paswan wouldn't live to see it.

The warmth between Paswan and Chirag was visible and often advertised. The critics say it was the love for his son that blinded Paswan.

He perhaps willingly shut his eyes to trouble simmering within. He possibly could not have ignored his brother Paras' impassive face at the press conference held for Chirag's coronation. Paras was told to garland the new president, a gesture meant to convey his approval of the change. But any casual observer could see that even a perfunctory smile didn't escape his lips.

But Paswan was no fool. He knew very well about the ownership tussle going on beneath this veneer of congeniality. At all costs, he wanted to keep the lid on the family drama. He did not want it to come in the way of his son's coronation. And the best way, he perhaps thought, was to ignore it. It was his way of avoiding a very public showdown.

Paras felt that he was the rightful heir to his brother. He was just four years younger than Paswan. In all these years, it was he who carried forward the Paswan legacy. When Paswan went to Parliament in 1977, he handed over the Alauli assembly seat to Paras.

As Paswan pursued his national dreams, it was Paras who held the fort in Bihar. In 2000, when the party was formed, it was again Paras who managed the logistics. He was LJP's state president in Bihar, the only state where the party really mattered. He was not being presumptuous to expect that he would succeed his brother.

But for Paswan, Paras was his colleague and contemporary. He argued that the party reins need to be handed over to the next generation, to his sons and nephews. It was time for them to retire.

Chirag's investiture left little elbow room for Paras. After Chirag took over, it was felt that it would be difficult for Bihar President Paras to answer to a much younger National President Chirag. So Paras had to make way for his nephew Prince Raj, son of the youngest Paswan brother, Ram Chandra.

Paswan meanwhile was happy to take the back seat and leave all political decisions for Chirag to handle.

On 9 July 2020, Paswan addressed what would be his last media interaction. Coming in the backdrop of Chinese transgression at the LAC in Ladakh, he was addressing the press conference as Union consumer affairs minister.

It was part of the concerted attack by the Narendra Modi government on 'Made-in-China' products. The minister wanted to announce the government's policy to make it mandatory for e-commerce Web sites to declare the 'country of origin' for every product sold on their portals.

With the Bihar assembly elections just three months away, obviously, Paswan could not escape political questions. There was still a lot of confusion on LJP's stand. Chirag had already opened a front against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar levelling several allegations.

Paswan sidestepped all the questions saying that he no longer led the party and the political questions would have to be directed at his son Chirag who was leading the party. But that did not stop him from making fawning remarks about Prime Minister Modi. He was keeping the door open for his son, just in case, he felt that the dare he was throwing at Nitish was far beyond his capacity.

A month later, on 23 August, he was admitted to Escorts Hospital. The hospitalisation was for routine scans and check-ups. Before leaving for the hospital, he called the entire family over to 12 Janpath, including Paras. They sat down to have a cup of tea and snacks.

When he rose to leave, Paras who was sitting close to him held his arm to support him. He immediately shrugged him off. 'I am alright. There is nothing wrong with me.'

He told his staff not to touch the file kept at his bedside. He meant to return.

Even when the disease is eating away at the body, the mind stays alive till the very end. He kept himself busy working the phone -- calling up family, friends, reporters, his department officials, and fellow politicians. He even attended the Cabinet meetings, connecting virtually, from his hospital bed.

He did let his son make the final call, but he remained engaged on the question of LJP's political future.

On 4 September, the LJP put out the first indication of what was in the store with a full-page advertisement in all Delhi newspapers with the slogan, 'Woh Lad Rahe Hai Bihar Par Raj Karne Ke Liye, Aur Hum Lad Rahe Hai Bihar Par Naaz Karne Ke Liye.' (They are fighting to rule Bihar, we are fighting to have pride in Bihar.)

Though the JD-U was not mentioned, the reference was clear. Paswan was thrilled to see his party back on the centre stage. It took him back to the spring of 2005 when for a few weeks at least he was the kingmaker, wooed and pursued by all sides.

Fifteen years later, he hoped to see history repeat itself. He dialled many journalists that day enquiring for their feedback trying to take a straw poll to assess the reaction to his party's move to stand against Nitish Kumar.

'Kaisa tha?' (How was it?) was all he asked but refused to get into the details of what the party, he or Chirag had planned.

On 11 September, from his hospital bed, he tweeted, 'I stand firmly with every decision of his. I am confident that with his youthful thinking, Chirag will take the party and Bihar to new heights.'

Four days before his death, the LJP announced its final decision. By then Paswan was already on a ventilator, his vital organs were shutting down. A particularly twisted stand -- pro BJP but anti-Nitish. With the slogan 'Modi se bair nahi, Nitish teri khair nahi,' which roughly translates to 'No enmity with Modi but won't spare [Bihar Chief Minister] Nitish Kumar.'

The party declared that it would contest against the JD-U but not the BJP. This move had covert support of the BJP. Many of the BJP leaders joined LJP overnight to contest under their symbol and soon after the elections returned to their parent party.

Was he on board with the final divorce? Chirag, along with Paswan's wife Reena emphatically say yes! If the party does not strike out on its own, it can't ever carve out a space for itself. He did regret that all his life, the LJP played only a supporting role. But more importantly, Paswan did not want to contest on the same side as Nitish Kumar.

Paras claims that he could not speak to Paswan while he was in hospital, because he was himself down with COVID and had been admitted to AIIMS.

'Till the very end, we didn't know that Chirag was planning to contest alone. Whenever we asked questions, we were told that his comments about Nitish Kumar are only meant for posturing, to equip the party to negotiate more seats for the party.'

On 10 November 2020, the Bihar assembly results were declared and clearly, Chirag's calculations had gone awry. He wanted to play the kingmaker's role but ended with total annihilation. The LJP won a single seat and got just 5.66 per cent of the total votes polled. (The lone MLA who won on the LJP ticket moved to the JD-U).

He was satisfied with the results. His campaign against the JD-U had hurt Nitish on more than fifty seats. It also elevated the BJP's status, with 74 seats they were 30 seats ahead of the JD-U and could dictate terms, rather than the other way round.

Chirag's decision didn't sit well with the party. Uncle and nephew had fallen out within days of Paswan's death. And the results only further hastened the demise of their already tenuous relationship.

On 14 June 2021, less than a year after his death, in an internal coup, Paras walked away with five of the party's six MPs leaving Chirag isolated.

The split was formalised in October 2021. Chirag's faction was now called Lok Janshakti Party (Paswan) and Paras' faction was known as Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party.

History tells us only capable legatees are able to carry forward the name and thoughts of a leader. It remains to be seen who between the son and the brother carries forward the mantle.

Excerpted from Ram Vilas Paswan: The Weathervane of Indian Politics by Sobhana K Nair, with the permission of the publishers, Roli Books.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com