Only PM Modi called me when my father was in ICU: Chirag Paswan

Patna: ‘Why should I not respect Prime Minister Narendra Modi, only he called me for support when my father was admitted to ICU’, asserted LJP president Chirag Paswan, a day after referring to himself as PM’s ‘Hanuman’.

Speaking to reporters, Paswan also launched a scathing attack on JD(U) president and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, saying that the latter is anxious to portray a distance and wedge between LJP and BJP.

“I’d like to allay this fear by saying that I welcome criticism from BJP leaders, even from PM. I believe Bihar CM’s stopped envisioning policies & become saturated. He dismisses young leaders, calling them inexperienced but himself started as a young activist during the JP movement. We’re aware too and can think for Bihar. The state’s given him 15 years already”, he added.

Notably, Paswan, who led his party out of the NDA in Bihar and is contesting alone, was recently warned by senior BJP leaders, including former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, of legal action if his party were to use the prime minister’s photograph for the election campaign.

“The prime minister lives in my heart. I am like his Hanuman. If they (his critics) want, they can prise open my heart and see that. I don’t need to use the prime minister’s photograph,” Paswan stated after he was excoriated by Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, who called the LJP leader a “vote Katua” (splitter of votes) and accused him of trying to create confusion by harping on his equations with senior leaders of the saffron party.