Ram Vilas Paswan: Meet the 'greatest weather vane' of Indian politics

It was during the campaigning for 2014 general election that Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad introduced Ram Vilas Paswan, after the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) supremo switched sides to the National Democratic Alliance, as the greatest Mausam Vaigyanik (weather vane). “Woh sabse bade mausam vaigyanik hain. PUSA wala nahi, ISRO wala,” Lalu used to joke about Paswan in his rallies.

 

A seasoned politician with an uncanny knack for sensing political winds, Paswan has had several stints in different governments in the Centre. Hopping around parties and coalitions, he has a rare distinction of serving in the cabinets of six Prime Ministers.

 

A law graduate from Patna University, the LJP supremo started off an MLA in the late 1960s. His shot to fame, however, arrived in the 1977, when he won the Post Emergency election with a record margin of 4 lakh votes.

 

Ram Vilas made his debuted as a cabinet minister in the short-lived VP Singh government in 1989. He returned as Railways Minister in the United Alliance government less than a decade later. He switched sides and was made Minister for Communications and later Coal under Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998. 

 

However, Paswan quit Vajpayee government in protest of the Gujarat riots of 2002 and floated his own party, the LJP. He also started re-aligning towards the Congress, which returned to power in 2004. He was appointed Minister for Chemical and Fertilizers in the government headed by Dr Manmohan Singh.

 

Ahead of the 2014 election, he joined hands with the BJP. The LJP won six out of seven seats it contested including Paswan, son Chirag and brother Ram Chandra. He was made Minister for Food and Public Distribution. This year, Paswan, however, refused to contest from Hajipur. His party, riding on the Modi wave, won all the six seats it contested.

 

Paswan is all set to enter the Rajya Sabha from Bihar, most likely on the seat vacated by senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad.