Union Cabinet Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan breathed his last on Thursday, October 8. He was the pioneer of Dalit rights and a staunch socialist leader. Despite having a different ideology, he was respected across party lines.
He was admitted to a New Delhi hospital after facing health complications like heart and kidney ailments. Few days before his death, his son, Chirag Paswan tweeted about his strategy after his father recovers from his health conditions but sadly, he is no more between us.
पापा….अब आप इस दुनिया में नहीं हैं लेकिन मुझे पता है आप जहां भी हैं हमेशा मेरे साथ हैं।
Miss you Papa… pic.twitter.com/Qc9wF6Jl6Z— युवा बिहारी चिराग पासवान (@iChiragPaswan) October 8, 2020
Ever since his first election win from Bihar in 1969 till 50 years of him being inactive politics he has been very vocal about his ideas and beliefs. He has also been a witness to two major turning points in post-independence politics- Dalits and the famous Mandal Commission.
He rose to fame during the JP movement (1974) that was basically an anti-congress movement and he had spent the entire period of Emergency in jail before being elected to Lok Sabha in 1977.
Mr. Paswan was the face of Dalits in the Hindi heartland. He ensured that they have equal representation and the government works towards their upliftment. He was the one whose efforts led to the awarding of Bharat Ratna to Dr. BR Ambedkar and the present Modi Government to dilute the Supreme Court judgment which diluted the provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
His Lok Janshakti Party had a change of course in its strategy for the upcoming Bihar elections. LJP has refused to contest the elections under the leadership of Nitish Kumar who is the present CM of Bihar as well as the CM face for NDA. Mr. Pawan’s death has definitely given a strong blow to LJP. His son who is known for aggressive politics against the Bihar CM is now in a delicate position with a responsibility to carry forward a strong legacy. This will also affect the BJP’s agenda’s as they will refrain from speaking against him as he was their strong ally and the public sentiments will be inclined towards him.
It will be interesting to see what holds for LJP in Bihar this time and will Mr. Chirag Paswan be able to turn the tides in the favour of his party and continue the legacy of his father.
