Chirag Paswan, a marginal player in Bihar politics with not a single MLA in a House of 243, is trying to capture the centre-stage.

The Union food processing minister and head of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) on Sunday sought to obliquely pitch himself as the face of the NDA in poll-bound Bihar.

“To strengthen the NDA and to ensure the victory of NDA candidates from Bihar’s 243 seats, Chirag Paswan will contest the polls from each one of these seats,” the 42-year-old told reporters in Ara.

The Lok Sabha MP had just addressed his first rally after baring his intent early this week to return to Bihar and contest the upcoming Assembly polls. His comment came as reporters pressed him to name the seat he would contest from.

Chirag’s party, which has 5 Lok Sabha MPs, is a distant third in the alliance behind the Big Two: the BJP and the Janata Dal United. It draws its strength primarily from a sub-section of Dalits, the Paswans.

However, with chief minister Nitish Kumar in his twilight and the state BJP and the JDU bereft of a charismatic alternative, the son of late Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan is eyeing his chance.

The BJP leadership has declared that Nitish would again lead the NDA into battle, but Chirag’s party believes that the alliance needs a young and dynamic face to take on the RJD challenger, Tejashwi Yadav.

Chirag, however, appears mindful of his party’s limited strength. While subtly projecting himself as the NDA’s mascot, he has been insisting that he is not in the race for chief minister.

The MP from the reserved Scheduled Caste seat of Hajipur has declared he would contest from an unreserved Assembly seat – apparently to prove himself the leader of all the communities in the state.

“I will contest elections from every seat in Bihar to make Bihar first and Biharis first. And the biggest thing is that I will not contest elections from Bihar, I will contest elections for Bihar, I will contest elections for Biharis,” Chirag said.

He refrained from naming the constituency: “It is for the people of Bihar to decide which seat I should contest from.”

During his address, Chirag sought to strike an emotional chord by playing both victim and victor. Referring to the split in the family-based party, he said his opponents had tried with all their might to “destroy Chirag Paswan” and failed.

“My father is no longer in this world. Those who should have been my father threw me out of the house. Now, you are my father, you are my mother… you are my whole family,” he said.

His uncle, Pasupati Paras, had split the original Lok Janshakti Party.

Chirag’s party is expected to receive a share of 25 to 30 seats to contest as part of the NDA.

While Chirag would find it difficult to stake claim to the chief minister’s post given his party’s numbers, many feel that he is looking to take a leaf out of his father’s book and emerge as the kingmaker.

It’s a role that Ram Vilas, who had broken away from the Janata Dal and formed the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) in 2000, had momentarily seemed set to play after the 2005 Bihar elections.

His party had bagged 29 seats and deprived Nitish Kumar’s NDA and Lalu Prasad’s RJD of a clear majority.

“The key to power is in my hands,” the elder Paswan had famously said then, setting terms for his support that were unacceptable to the two main players.

His dream proved short-lived, with 12 of his MLAs defecting in favour of Nitish. When elections were held again later that year, after a bout of President’s rule, the LJP got pulverised and Nitish romped home with a comfortable majority.

Since then, the Lok Janshakti has remained a marginal player in Bihar.

Chirag had gone solo in the 2020 Assembly polls, projecting himself as “Modi’s Hanuman”. He did inflict considerable damage on the JDU, reducing its tally by nearly half, but his own party won just one seat. Even that single MLA later defected to the JDU.

He has been more tactful and circumspect this time. “There is no vacancy for the chief minister’s post. Nitish Kumar will once again become the chief minister after the polls,” he has been stressing.