Lalu Yadav, Rahul Gandhi visit Ramvilas Paswan's residence on death anniversary, pay tributes
New Delhi/UNI: Rashtriya Janata Dal Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, and former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday paid tributes to Ramvilas Paswan on his death anniversary, and met his son Chirag Paswan at his residence.
Rahul Gandhi visited Paswan's residence at Janpath in Delhi, where the Lok Janshakti Party founder lived for decades, and met Chirag, and the RJD chief.
Sources said the meetings were not political in nature.
However, amid a row and a split between Chirag and his uncle Pashupati Paras, Yadav said Chirag carries the legacy of Ramvilas Paswan. The former Bihar chief minister also demanded a Bharat Ratna for Paswan.
"I came to pay my tributes... He was not an ordinary leader, he fought for social justice all his life. He is not with us anymore... now Chirag will carry forward his father's responsibilities," Yadav said.
"We demand that the Government of India give a Bharat Ratna to Ramvilas ji," he said.
Rahul Gandhi in a tweet paid tributes to the prominent Dalit leader.
श्री रामविलास पासवान जी की प्रथम पुण्यतिथि पर भावभीनी श्रद्धांजलि।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 8, 2021
इस अवसर पर लालू प्रसाद यादव जी से भी भेंट हुई। उन्हें स्वस्थ देखकर अच्छा लगा। pic.twitter.com/y8jqH4HzF4
Paying his tribute to the leader on his first death anniversary, he said, "I also met Lalu Prasad Yadav ji, it was good to see him healthy".
Paswan, who died last year due to heart related ailments, held the post of Consumer Affairs Minister till his last days. He was the founder and president of the Lok Janshakti Party till his death.
The LJP was in alliance with the BJP at the center, and in Bihar.
However, the party fought the recent Bihar assembly elections alone, after parting ways with the National Democratic Alliance and BJP.
The lone MLA that won from the LJP, Raj Kumar Singh, switched sides and joined Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) in April this year.
The LJP eventually split into two factions, one led by Chirag Paswan, and the other by Ramvilas' brother Pashupati Kumar Paras.
Chirag's faction has been named “Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)”, with “helicopter" as their election symbol, while Paras' faction is "Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party", with "sewing machine" as its symbol.
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