Chirag Paswan, former president of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), on Monday 5 July, kicked off the 'Ashirwad Yatra' – a roadshow to rally the party’s supporters and regain political ground in Bihar after a split in the LJP.
"I am beginning the Ashirwad yatra from Hajipur because it was my father's work land. We will hold this yatra in every district. Our only aim is to take everyone's blessings. I don't have the status to show power to anyone. My own people have betrayed me," Paswan told news agency ANI.
Five out of six LJP MPs in the Lok Sabha had rebelled against Paswan in June sacking him as the head of the parliamentary party just eight months after he took over the reins of LJP.
The coup has been led by Paswan’s uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, creating a rift between him and Paswan.
In an attempt to regain lost political ground and public support in the state, Paswan announced that his Bihar yatra would commence from his late father Ram Vilas Paswan's turf Hajipur which is currently LJP President Paras' Lok Sabha constituency.
The launch of the Ashirwad Yatra marks the 75th birth anniversary of former LJP supremo and MP Ram Vilas Paswan, who passed away last year.
Chirag Paswan's Message on His Late Father's Birth Anniversary
"I am trying my best to fulfil the vow I made to you. Wherever you are, you must also be disheartened looking at the difficult situation I am in. I am your son; I will not accept defeat. I know your blessings are always with me," Paswan said in a tweet on the occasion of his father's birth anniversary.
The LJP leader, along with his mother and other family members, also released a book titled 'Paswan' on the birth anniversary of Ram Vilas Paswan in Delhi on Monday.
"I am the son of a lion, will never be scared, no matter how much people try to break us," he said at the book launch, as per an ANI.
(With inputs from ANI)
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