Chirag Paswan appoints Raju Tiwari as LJP's Bihar Unit president

IANS photo

New Delhi: Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader and MP Chirag Paswan, who alleged a coup against him by a few members in the party, on Wednesday (June 16) appointed Raju Tiwari as Bihar's LJP state president in place of Prince Raj. 

The development came as a woman lodged a complaint with the Connaught Place Police in Delhi against Prince Raj, an LJP MP from Samastipur in Bihar, and cousin of Chirag Paswan. In her three-page police complaint registered on June 15, the woman accused Prince of sexual assault. 

This came as Chirag Paswan on Tuesday revealed a letter dated March 29 on Twitter, addressed to his uncle, which mentions the involvement of Prince in an alleged sexual act with a woman leader of the party. Media reports mention that Delhi Police sources have said that they have received a complaint and investigations are on. No FIR has been lodged, sources said.  

Prince Raj is the son of late Ram Chandra Paswan, the brother of late Ram Vilas Paswan, the founder of LJP, and Chirag's father. After Ram Chandra Paswan passed away, Prince Raj contested from Samastipur with Chirag Paswan campaigning for him.

There has been high drama in LJP since Monday after Chirag Paswan was unseated as the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha by his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras. Along with Pashupati Kumar Paras, Prince Raj, Chandan Singh, Veena Devi and Mehboob Ali Keshar revolted against Chirag.

Chirag Paswan, son of late LJP founding president Ram Vilas Paswan, who has been cornered in the very party he had been heading for nearly a year, had at a press conference in Delhi earlier in the day raised questions over the Lok Sabha Speaker giving recognition to the rebel faction which has chosen Paras as its leader. 

Shortly after Chirag was done with his media briefing, Paras, his fathers youngest brother and MP from Hajipur constituency which Paswan senior represented a number of times, landed at the Patna airport whre he received a rousing welcome by enthusiastic supporters. He challenged Chirag's contention that the election of the former as the head of the parliamentary party was invalid since such a decision could be taken 'only by the national president or the chairman of the parliamentary board'.