NEW DELHI: LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan credited PM Narendra Modi for the NDA returning to office for the third time in a row. More than his praise, what caught the eye was the affection between the two. After announcing his support for PM Modi, Chirag walked up to him, shook his hand and hugged him, while the PM responded with a warm pat on his head.
The bonhomie between the two leaders is now new. In July 2023, Chirag had touched the PM’s feet and Modi had hugged him ahead of the NDA meeting in Delhi. Chirag and his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, who heads Rashtriya LJP, were present in the meeting. Modi’s response was seen as a signal of Chirag’s outfit returning to the NDA fold.
Even during the recent election campaign in Hajipur, PM Modi had said he saw Chirag as a son who was the “future of Bihar”.
On Friday, Chirag said the credit of NDA forming the govt again went to Modi. “It was his willpower which helped in registering such a massive victory. It is not a normal thing that NDA got such a big victory under the leadership of the PM for the third time in a row.” Stating that people had full faith in Modi, he said, “Because of you, today we can proudly say in front of the world that India has become the fifth-largest economy of the world.”
Chirag said the PM had the willpower to reduce the difference between villages and cities, rich and poor, and to set the target of a developed India by 2047.
HAM (Secular) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, while announcing his support to Modi, said the commitment was from the family and lineage of Dasrath Manjhi who cut a road through a mountain with “chisel and hammer” in 24 years, signalling his party’s determination to remain in the NDA. Dashrath Manjhi, also known as ‘Mountain Man’, was a labourer from Gehlaur village near Gaya.