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As the dispute between the two sides for control over the of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) remains unresolved three years after it began, the Election Commission on July 8 wrote to the two factions, led by Union Minister for Food Processing Chirag Paswan and his uncle, former Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, asking them to submit any further documents in support of their claims by July 25, The Indian Express has learnt.
After the death of LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan in 2020, his son, Chirag, and his brother, Paras, had a falling-out. The dispute reached the EC in June 2021 when both sides claimed they were the ‘real’ LJP.
On October 2, 2021, the EC passed an interim order freezing the use of the name Lok Janshakti Party and the symbol ‘bungalow’. It then allotted the name Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and the symbol of ‘helicopter’ to the Chirag Paswan group, and the name Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party and ‘sewing machine’ symbol to the Paras group after considering their requests for alternate names and symbols till the dispute is resolved.
Both sides have been given many reminders to submit all documents in support of their claim, the EC sources said. A senior EC official said the two sides have sought additional time to submit their documents when asked in the past. The official added that since the dispute had been registered in the EC under the Symbols Order, the EC would have to take a decision taking into account the relevant facts. Neither side had withdrawn its claim, the official said.
Among the documents that are usually submitted in such cases are proof of support enjoyed by the faction from the party’s elected representatives and within the organisation.
When asked for comment, an LJP (RV) source said: “The Election Commission asks for documents on a regular basis and we do submit. This time is also the same. There has been no date set for a hearing.”
Paras, who had been inducted into the NDA government as Minister for Food Processing Industries in 2021, resigned from the post in March after the BJP sided with Chirag’s faction, LJP (Ram Vilas), giving it five Lok Sabha seats to contest in Bihar and none to his group.
Paras couldn’t be reached for a comment.
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