Does Paswan want to be the 'Chirag' of NDA? announces bid to contest all 243 seats

In a bold and politically charged announcement, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) President and Union Minister Chirag Paswan declared on Sunday that his party will contest all 243 seats in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. The statement, laden with symbolism and political undertones, is being seen by many as a strategic message—not just to voters, but more crucially to the NDA leadership, especially the BJP.

Paswan said people often ask him which assembly seat he will contest from, and to that, his answer is clear: he will fight from every seat where an NDA candidate is in the fray. He emphasized that this is not just a fight for one seat, but for all 243 assembly seats in Bihar, and more importantly, for the trust of every village, every town, and every voter. Wherever the NDA flag flies, he added, Chirag Paswan will be standing there.

The statement is as much a declaration of political intent as it is a bargaining chip. With the BJP and JD(U) expected to retain dominance in the NDA seat-sharing arrangement, Chirag Paswan’s positioning suggests that he wants a bigger piece of the pie.

Political Maths: then & now

Looking back at the 2020 Assembly elections, LJP contested 135 seats & won just one (Matihani), and secured a total vote share of 5.8%. Notably, LJP candidates came second in 10 constituencies, but many lost their deposits . In 2015, when LJP was part of the NDA alliance and contested 42 seats, it won 2 and had a vote share of 5.0%.

So in real terms, LJP's vote share increased only marginally—0.8% over five years—raising questions about its ground strength.

Dilemma in NDA?

Now if the BJP & JD U were to accommodate LJP (Ram Vilas) with more seats this time around, they would inevitably have to offer a larger share to other alliance partners as well—perhaps Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP), or smaller regional allies. This leads to the biggest question: how many seats will the BJP contest itself?

In 2020 BJP contested 110 seats, won 74. JD(U) contested 115, won 43. So a reshuffle to appease Chirag Paswan could dent BJP’s seat tally or put it at odds with JD(U)—both undesirable scenarios.

Kingmaker in the making?

Chirag Paswan’s announcement also opens the door to another political reading: a bid to become a kingmaker in case of a fractured mandate. If LJP (Ram Vilas) can repeat or better its performance on select seats, especially in triangular contests, it could end up holding the balance of power—especially if NDA falls short of a clear majority.

By creating the perception of contesting all seats, Chirag may not aim to win many, but to influence enough to make his presence indispensable.