Chirag Paswan says he wouldn't hesitate to give up ministerial post if ...

NEW DELHI: Union minister Chirag Paswan, an important ally in the NDA, raised eyebrows with his remark on Tuesday that he would easily give up his ministerial post if the Constitution or reservation were tampered with or if any injustice was done to people from deprived sections, in line with the vision set by his late father, Ram Vilas Paswan.
"I will not hesitate to renounce my ministerial berth like my father did if reservation and Constitution are tampered with," the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader said while addressing an event of the party's SC/ST cell in Patna.
However, later, the LJP(RV) leader cleared the air on his remark, saying he was referring to the Congress-led UPA.
"My father was a minister in the UPA government too. And too many things took place back then which were detrimental to the interests of Dalits. Even pictures of Baba Saheb Ambedkar were not put up at public events. So we parted ways," news agency PTI quoted him saying.
The Union minister further heaped praise for PM Modi. He also reiterated that he "will be in the NDA till Narendra Modi is my Prime Minister".
Paswan said the current BJP-NDA government has been sensitive to his concerns about Dalits, and cited the Centre's stand on creamy layer and lateral entry into bureaucracy as an example.
Speculation about a potential rift between his party and the saffron party has been circulating for some time. However, the LJP leader has repeatedly dismissed these rumors outright. Just a month ago, he firmly denied them, asserting that he is "inseparable" from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"My love for Narendra Modi is unshakeable. I am inseparable from him, for as long as he is Prime Minister", he had said in an interview to news agency PTI.
"As a matter of fact, my views always reflected the government's stand. A case in point is sending the Waqf Bill to the Joint Parliamentary Committee".
The LJP (RV) leader had said that he was willing to participate in the upcoming Bihar assembly elections as a partner of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) "if the BJP so desires", and downplayed the significance of his estranged uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, who is also the president of the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party.
Paswan, who had been the lone MP of LJP(RV) ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls secured all five seats his party contested in this year's parliamentary elections.