Day after coup, Chirag Paswan removed as Lok Janshakti Party chief

Chirag Paswan, isolated by the coup in his Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) led by his uncle, was removed as party president in an “emergency meeting” of rebel MPs who are now calling the shots.

Chirag Paswan was removed on the principle of “One Man, One Post”, said the rebels, led by his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras. Mr Paswan was removed as leader of the LJP parliamentary party last evening.

According to sources, the rebels will next seek to remove Mr Paswan as the leader of the LJP parliamentary board, stripping him of every position of power he held after taking over from his father and LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan.

Suraj Bhan will function as working president until a new president is elected in a national executive meeting expected soon.

By the end of this week, Pashupati Kumar Paras’s takeover of his brother’s party will be complete, say sources.

Yesterday, five of the six LJP Lok Sabha MPs revolted – Chirag Paswan is the sixth – and chose his uncle as their new leader.

Mr Paras, the younger brother of Ram Vilas Paswan and the lead player in the coup launched with help from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the BJP, has snubbed his nephew’s attempts at reconciliation.

Yesterday, he refused to meet Chirag Paswan, who waited at his doorstep for an hour and 45 minutes.

Today, Mr Paswan, rapidly losing his grip on the LJP, posted an emotional tweet and shared a letter he had written to his uncle in March.