Rajeev Ranjan gets panchayati raj; Chirag Paswan bags food processing

Rajeev Ranjan 'Lalan' is the only minister from the Janata Dal (United) in the Union Cabinet

A confidant of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Rajeev Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh won the Lok Sabha (LS) polls from Munger. He is a former Janata Dal (United) national president.

On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed Singh to the portfolios of Panchayati Raj, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. He is the only minister from the Janata Dal (United) in the Union Cabinet. 

Singh, 69, won the Munger seat in 2009 and 2019 but lost in 2014 to the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) candidate. The JD(U) and BJP were allies in 2009 and 2019. In 2014, JD(U) contested the LS election independently after exiting the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), while the LJP, led by Ram Vilas Paswan, remained a constituent of the NDA.

Political oblivion to role in Modi 3.0 

Chirag Paswan, 42, had a few tough years after the death of his father, Ram Vilas Paswan, the founder of the Lok Janshakti Party. The party split into two with his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras and others successfully staking claim to run the party. Paras also succeeded his elder brother in the Union Council of Ministers as Minister for Food Processing Industries. However, Chirag fought his way back, campaigning indefatigably in Bihar with the result that the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership relented and aligned with the faction that he leads, the LJP (Ram Vilas), for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Chirag’s party won all the five seats that it contested. Chirag won from the Hajipur seat that his father had won on several occasions. He has now succeeded his father in the Union Cabinet.