'I'm A Nepo Kid, But...': Chirag Paswan On How Being Son of Influential Politician Can Be 'Double-Edged Sword'

Union minister Chirag Paswan said he is proud to be the son of Ram Vilas Paswan — the founder of the Lok Janshakti Party — and acknowledged his privilege as a “nepotism kid” in the world of politics, but also said it is a “double-edged sword”. He said while he is the son of an influential politician, it does not come without its set of challenges.

“I am a nepo kid, I can’t shy away from that fact. I am proud that I am the son of Ram Vilas Paswan. For me, it is a matter of pride. If you do good work, people say that it is because of your parents. So the credit is not yours. But, if you do bad, then you will hear abuses. So you are always on a double-edged sword,” he told news agency ANI during a podcast.

Chirag, who is now the Union minister of food processing industries in the Modi 3.0 cabinet, said his rise as the party’s leader was not easy or by default. He had to fight his way to the top and prove himself after a split in the undivided party founded by his father. His uncle and Ram Vilas Paswan’s brother Pashupati Paras was the person behind the split, which threatened to end Chirag’s political journey.

“I lost everything – the party, the symbol, the organisation, and the house we stayed in for three decades. So everything was taken away from me. I had to start from scratch; I did not even know how to make a new party,” he told ANI.

Paras took charge of the LJP after Ram Vilas Paswan died in 2020. Chirag, who was an actor and has also appeared in a movie with Bollywood actress and MP Kangana Ranaut, said this was the biggest challenge of his political career as many wrote him off and sidelined him. But, he persevered and, in 2021, formed the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas). The party has now secured victory in all five seats that it contested as an NDA ally in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Chirag now holds the same portfolio in the Union cabinet as his father once did and called himself “Modi’s Hanuman”. Seen as the future of the politics of Bihar, the BJP has also called him a “valuable asset”.

In the ANI podcast, Chirag also spoke about the importance of Bihari identity and the need to rise above caste lines if the state wanted to progress and emerge from its status as one of India’s poorest. He discussed his vision for Bihar and also explained why his Bollywood debut failed.