Patna, (Samajweekly) The Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas on Wednesday announced Arun Bharti, the brother-in-law of party chief Chirag Paswan, as its candidate from the Jamui (Reserved) Lok Sabha constituency.
Arun Bharti, who is married to Chirag Paswan’s sister Nisha, will file his nomination on the last day on March 28.
The LJP-Ram Vilas is contesting on five seats in Bihar and Chirag Paswan, who currently is the Jamui MP, has already announced that he will contest from Hajipur (SC) seat – long held by his father and party founder, the late Ram Vilas Paswan.
Following his selection, Bharti, in a social media post, expressed gratitude to Chirag Paswan.
“Our national President Chirag Paswan has given the symbol of the party to contest the Lok Sabha election from Jamui. He has shown faith in me. I am thankful to him and PM Narendra Modi,” he said.
An MBA and running a private telecom company, Bharti is the son of former Congress lawmaker, Dr Jyoti. He was not active in politics in Bihar but has a political background. His mother is a prominent leader of the Congress and has a good hold in Bhojpur district.
“My son was associated with Chirag Paswan for a long time but not involved in active politics. This would be the first time he has become active in politics. As a mother, I am happy with his progress in politics,” Dr Jyoti told IANS.
Sources have said that Bharti is a political advisor of Chirag Paswan and often gives suggestions for important political moves and election campaigns.
Chirag Paswan is following the footprints of his father late Ram Vilas Paswan, who promoted family members like Pashupati Kumar Paras, Chirag Paswan, Prince Raj, Ram Chandra Paswan and others. However, he has also learnt a lot especially after his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras broke the LJP in 2021 and formed another party with the help of four other MPs, leaving Chirag Paswan isolated.
This time, he wants to give tickets to his immediate family members to avoid such a split in the party. Sources have said that Chirag Paswan may also give a ticket to his sister Nisha Paswan or his mother Reena Paswan to contest from the Samastipur (Reserved) seat.
Earlier, the RJD announced local Dalit leader Archana Ravidas as its candidate from Jamui.
Jamui will go to the polls on April 19 in the first phase of the elections.
