'Lalu, Tejashwi Yadav consider Muslim community their bonded labour': BJP backs Chirag Paswan

New Delhi, Oct 25 As Union Minister for Food Processing Industries and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan launched a sharp attack on the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), accusing it of exploiting the Muslim community for votes while denying them top political positions, BJP National Spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain on Saturday backed him, saying that Lalu and Tejashwi Yadav consider Muslim community as their bonded labour.

Speaking to IANS, Shahnawaz Hussain said, “Chirag Paswan is absolutely right. In 2005, Lalu Yadav had an opportunity when Ram Vilas Paswan had promised that if Lalu Yadav announced any RJD leader as Chief Minister, he would extend his full support. But Lalu Yadav did not agree to that. Even today, when there is no possibility of him becoming Chief Minister through the RJD, he is still trying to make his son the Chief Minister and has announced Mukesh Sahani as Deputy Chief Minister.”

He further said, “The largest section of the population, considered a vote bank, the Muslims has been betrayed by the Mahagathbandhan. Lalu and Tejashwi Yadav treat the Muslim community as their bonded labour, believing that by invoking fear of the BJP, they can secure their votes. But Muslims are no longer satisfied with this. Whatever Chirag Paswan has said is absolutely true.”

Earlier in the day, Chirag Paswan urged the community to break free from what he termed as being a "bonded vote bank".

Paswan recalled that in 2005, his father and LJP founder, the late Ram Vilas Paswan, had made a significant political move to support the idea of a Muslim Chief Minister in Bihar, but the RJD refused to back it.

"In 2005, my leader, my father, the late Ram Vilas Paswan ji sacrificed even his own party to make a Muslim Chief Minister -- yet even then, you did not support him," Chirag Paswan said in a post on X.

He accused RJD of maintaining the same stance even two decades later.

"RJD was not ready for a Muslim Chief Minister even in 2005, and today in 2025, it is neither ready to give a Muslim Chief Minister nor a Deputy Chief Minister!" Paswan remarked, questioning the party's commitment to inclusion.

Chirag Paswan further appealed to the Muslim community to demand fair representation.

"If you remain a bonded vote bank, how will you get respect and participation?" he asked, appealing to Muslim voters.

The Union Minister's comments came in the wake of the Mahagathbandhan's recent announcement naming Tejashwi Yadav as its Chief Ministerial face and Mukesh Sahani as one of the Deputy Chief Ministerial candidates for the upcoming 2025 Bihar Assembly elections.

The absence of a Muslim leader in any top post within the alliance has triggered discontent. Several AIMIM leaders have also expressed disappointment over this.

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