Matter of pride if 'guardian' Lalu Yadav considers me leader: Chirag Paswan

Patna (Bihar) [India], August 3 : Lok Janshankti Party (LJP) MP Chirag Paswan on Tuesday said it is a matter of pride to him if his "guardian" and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Yadav considers him a leader.
"It is a matter of pride to me if my guardian (Lalu Yadav) considers me a leader. He has been a companion and friend of my father Ram Vilas Paswan. I respect his feelings but my priority is the 'Ashirwad Yatra' and making my organization strong. Any discussions on alliance in Bihar or Uttar Pradesh will be done near elections," Paswan told reporters.
Amid the power tussle in Lok Janshankti Party (LJP), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday said he wants LJP MP Chirag Paswan and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav to come together to form an alliance.
"Whatever happened in LJP, Chirag Paswan continues to be the leader of LJP. Yes, I want Chirag Paswan and Tejashwi Yadav to come together," Lalu Prasad Yadav told reporters in Delhi.
Earlier today, a delegation of LJP led by party MP Chirag Paswan met Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan to raise concerns over the law and order situation.
"The law and order situation has become the worst and crime has increased. The Bihar government has failed to stop crime. The reports of kidnapping, loot and murders are coming every day. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also holds the portfolio of the Home Ministry. he has failed to control the law and order. All the attacks are being made on Dalits. The Chief Minister only believes in caste politics. He does not like Dalits," Paswan said.
Earlier, Tejashwi Yadav had called Chirag for joining hands with the Opposition.
Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, the younger brother of LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan along with five other MPs, had met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and handed over a letter to him seeking removal of Chirag Paswan as party chief and as the Lok Sabha Parliamentary party leader.
Birla had accepted Paras as the floor leader of the LJP in the Lower House. In a revised list of floor leaders of parties, Paras was listed as the Lok Sabha LJP leader.
Later, Chirag too wrote to Birla stating that the decision of announcing Pashupati as leader of LJP in the Lower House was contrary to the provisions of the party's Constitution.
After the rebel faction of the LJP elected unopposed Paras as the new party president, Chirag Paswan had said the election was "illegal" as it was conducted by members of the LJP who were suspended from the party.
The LJP was formed by former Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan in 2000. Paswan, a heavyweight leader in Bihar politics, passed away in October 2020.