Ram Vilas Paswan, the 'weather vane' of Indian politics, dies aged 74

Ram Vilas Paswan, the Dalit leader who rose to become Union minister and wielded power to make or break governments, whose record margins of electoral victory remain unbroken, and had political judgement so unerring he was called a  weather vane by his adversaries, died aged 74 on Thursday.

His death comes with the Assembly election in Bihar less than a month away. His son Chirag, has announced the party Paswan founded, the Lok Janashakti Party (LJP), will contest against one member of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the election — the Janata Dal (United), currently in power in the state — will be the LJP’s number one enemy. The move, announced just a few days ago, was likely plotted by Ram Vilas as a final gambit to ensure the political relevance of his party, which has a captive vote share of 2-4 per cent in the state.

Paswan, who belongs to the Dusadh caste, an untouchable community, launched the LJP in 2000 after a long and stellar association with socialists in their various incarnations. He first became an elected representative at age 23, when he contested from the Alauli Assembly constituency in Bihar. He joined the student movement launched by Jayaprakash Narayan, was jailed during the Emergency, and contested the 1977 elections, becoming the youngest MP and one to win with the highest margin: Over 400,000 votes. His constituency was Hajipur, which returned him seven times after that.

Paswan became a crucial factor in politics during the Janata Parivar days. In the late 1980s, he became welfare and labour minister in the VP Singh government. He was a central minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government then, a position from which he resigned in 2002 following the communal violence in Gujarat.

But times were changing. Post-Lohia and post-Mandal politics were being replaced by the politics of liberalisation. Paswan realised that to retain his political USP, he had to strengthen his caste identity. 

With great trepidation he launched the LJP in 2000, conscious that many Dalit parties had been formed but had not really been successful or resilient even in states and political environments that supported and nurtured them. He launched a vigorous defence of reservation, seeking its extension in private sector business (a cause he pursued till the very end). It was because of his efforts that the Union Cabinet had to restore the original provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, which the Supreme Court struck down in March 2018.  The LJP’s role as kingmaker was firmly established in 2005 when the Assembly election yielded  a fractured verdict, President’s rule and fresh elections. 

Paswan’s death comes at a time when his party needed him the most. He was amiable but could be cutting about those who did not understand caste. But his strength was: he entered the system and sought to change it from within. He will be remembered for this.