Chirag Paswan, leader of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), joins NDA according to BJP chief Nadda.

New Delhi: Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan has decided to join the NDA, BJP chief J P Nadda announced on Monday. “I welcome him to the NDA family,” said Nadda, who met Paswan in Delhi. The development comes a day ahead of the ruling National Democratic Alliance meeting in Delhi. Earlier in the day, Paswan had met home minister Amit Shah and described his discussion on the issues related to the alliance with BJP as “positive”. The meeting was seen as part of an exercise to finalise his party’s share of Lok Sabha seats in Bihar for the 2024 general elections.

The undivided LJP under late stalwart Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan, Chirag’s father, had contested six Lok Sabha seats in 2019 and also received a Rajya Sabha seat as part of its seat-sharing deal with the BJP. The young leader wants the BJP to stick to the same arrangement despite a division in his party, with another faction, Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, headed by his uncle and Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras already a part of the ruling alliance.

Chirag Paswan’s decision to join the NDA is expected to strengthen the ruling alliance in Bihar. The move comes ahead of the NDA meeting, where discussions on seat-sharing for the 2024 general elections will take place. Paswan’s father, Ram Vilas Paswan, was a prominent leader in Bihar and his party’s alliance with the BJP played a crucial role in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. With Chirag Paswan now joining the NDA, it remains to be seen how the seat-sharing arrangement will be finalized and what impact it will have on the political landscape in Bihar.