Chirag Paswan challenges Tejashwi Yadav over 'election boycott' remarks

Patna, July 26 (IANS) In a sharp political attack, Union Minister Chirag Paswan on Saturday dared Bihar Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav to go ahead with his threat of boycotting the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.

Addressing the media in Patna, Chirag Paswan accused the RJD-Congress alliance of lacking the courage to contest elections alone and called their boycott talk a gimmick born out of fear of defeat.

Referring to Tejashwi Yadav’s earlier statement hinting at a possible poll boycott over alleged irregularities in the voter list revision, Chirag Paswan said: "If you have the courage, then boycott once and show it. The RJD has ruled Bihar for 15 years, yet it doesn't dare to contest alone."

He further said that both RJD -- the oldest party in Bihar -- and Congress, the oldest party in the country, have become dependent on alliances because they fear standing on their own political footing.

"These are the same parties that can’t even contest elections alone, and now they are talking about boycotting elections? Who are they trying to scare?" he asked.

Paswan also highlighted his own political journey, recalling the 2020 Assembly elections, where he contested alone under difficult personal circumstances.

"I had the courage to fight alone, even when my leader, my father, passed away during the nomination phase in the 2020 Bihar Assembly election. Let them try the same if they are truly confident," he said.

Paswan accused the opposition of habitually resorting to fear-mongering and spreading false narratives.

"They (Mahagathbandhan) claimed that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government returns after the Lok Sabha election 2024, reservation will end, democracy will be killed, and the Constitution will be torn apart. It's been a year now — whose reservation has been snatched? Where has the Constitution been dismantled?" Paswan asked.

He also linked the current controversy over Special Intensive Revision (SIR) with previous misinformation campaigns around the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), saying: "They spread fear over CAA too, claiming it was meant to take away citizenship. But the public didn't fall for it then, and won’t now."

Chirag Paswan concluded by saying that the opposition has accepted its defeat in advance and is now using boycott rhetoric as a cover for their lack of political ground.

--IANS

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