Ram Vilas Paswan: From Modi baiter to Modi ministry

Posted on 27th May 2014 10:35 pm by admin

Patna, May 26 (IANS) A dozen years after he attacked then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi over the 2002 riots and quit the NDA, LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan Monday joined the cabinet in a Modi-led central government.<br /><br />A Dalit leader, Paswan and RJD chief Lalu Prasad were widely seen as potential Congress allies in the Lok Sabha election. But in February he surprised everyone by aligning with the BJP to contest Lok Sabha polls.<br /><br />Political activist Ashok Kumar Singh, who has known Paswan for four decades, said there was a time when Paswan was attracted to Maoism but he never embraced it.<br /><br />After his graduation and before he completed his law degree, Paswan was all set to become a policeman but did not take up the job. He instead contested the 1969 Bihar assembly polls as the now defunct SSP candidate and won.<br /><br />Paswan won the Lok Sabha polls from Hajipur in 1977 with a margin of 4.24 lakh votes - a record broken only by P.V. Narasimha Rao in 1991.<br /><br />Becaming a union minister for the first time in 1989 in the V.P. Singh government, Paswan emerged as one of the most vocal supporters of the Mandal Commission recommendations.<br /><br />He served as a minister in the United Front governments of H.D. Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral. Paswan was also a minister in the NDA government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the UPA-I government of Manmohan Singh.<br /><br />Paswan was defeated in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls but was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2011 with the RJD's support.<br /><br />In 2014, he won from his traditional Hajipur seat, thanks to the Modi wave.<br /><br />His first wife Raj Kumari Devi lives in his native village Shaharbanni in Khagaria district. He later married again. His actor-turned-politician son Chirag Paswan also won the Lok Sabha polls -- from Jamui.<br /><br />One of Paswan's brothers is an MP while another is a former legislator in Bihar.

Other news

Mahfuz Alam: The mastermind who plotted to remove Sheikh Hasina government, Mohammad Yunus himself introduced him to the world

The movement against the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh was not spontaneous. This means t

PM Awas Yojana: Construction of more than three crore strong houses completed, PM said - this is a symbol of women empowerment

The Modi government has made a big achievement in the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. The central gov

Eight YSRCP suspended from Andhra assembly

Hyderabad, March 19 (IANS) Eight legislators of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) were on Thursday

Protest against attacks on Indians in America intensifies: Whites also took to the streets; Last rites of a dead Indian family in California today

After the killing of four members of an Indian-origin family in California, people have taken to

Boris Johnson reached Ahmedabad, will hold talks with PM Modi tomorrow, these agreements may be signed

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has arrived in Ahmedabad on a two-day visit to India from to

HC notice to Centre over Prashant Bhushan's plea

New Delhi, Feb 20 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Friday issued notice to the central government on

Budding Designers impress IBFW Audience with Creativity

Candolim (Goa), Feb 6 (IANS) From cruise wear to elegant formal wear -- as many as ten student

Suryakumar Yadav IND vs AUS: Number-1 Suryakumar Yadav's flop show in ODIs continues in T20 rankings, out for 0 for the second time in a row

Suryakumar Yadav, IND vs AUS 2nd ODI. Suryakumar Yadav, the middle-order batsman of the Indian te

India-China Border: indo-Pak Army maneuvers continue in Tibet across LAC, Indian Army also increased vigil

China and Pakistan have once again started their war preparations under the guise of normalizing

Angry farmers loot fertilizers in Bihar

Patna, Feb 12 (IANS) Faced with an acute shortage of fertilizers in Bihar, angry and worried fa