Daughter may contest against Paswan

Patna: Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan's daughter might contest against her father in the next Lok Sabha polls if given a ticket by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), her husband claimed here on Friday.

Anil Sadhu, who is married to Asha, Paswan's daughter from first marriage, also accused the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) of treating Dalits as bonded labourers and claimed there was widespread resentment against the LJP chief within his own caste group.

Paswan has backed only his son Chirag whom he got elected to the Lok Sabha and appointed as the chairman of the party's parliamentary board, Sadhu told regional news channels here, adding his daughters from his first marriage were always given a raw deal.

Asked whether he or his wife would like to contest against Paswan or Chirag in the next Lok Sabha polls, Sadhu said "both of us are ready to take up the challenge, provided Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Yadav agree to give us tickets.”

Ram Vilas Paswan is a member of parliament from Hajipur, a reserved constituency and his son Chirag Paswan represents the Jamui reserved parliamentary seat. His younger brother Ramchandra Paswan is a Lok Sabha member from another reserved constituency, Samastipur.

Pashupati Kumar Paras, another brother of Paswan, is a minister in Nitish Kumar's cabinet.

When contacted, Sadhu told PTI that their willingness to take on Paswan was 'not because of family feud but it's a fight for our maan-samman (honour).'

He said his wife was not available for comments as 'she was attending some ailing relative out of Patna.'

He, however, claimed she is of the same opinion on the issue.

Asha Paswan, a home-maker, is the second daughter from Paswan's first marriage.

Sadhu, son of four-time former Bihar legislator Punit Rai, claimed he had a talk with both Lalu and Tejashwi Yadav during which he expressed the desire to take on his father-in-law in the 2019 poll on an RJD ticket.

Associated with Paswan's Dalit Sena for long, Sadhu had unsuccessfully contested the 2015 Bihar polls from Masaurhi assembly seat on an LJP ticket.

Sadhu has been venting his ire against his father-in-law after reportedly having been cold shouldered. He was seen at an RJD function earlier this year which had triggered speculation about his future political move.

Leaders in the LJP and the RJD here have declined to comment on Sadhu's latest outbursts.

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.