Bihar elections: Ram Vilas Paswan remained a facilitator, never the face

As he cut a huge cake on Sunday to celebrate his 69th birthday in Patna; Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan looks once again destined to play the second fiddle just when Bihar is gearing up for the most crucial assembly polls, later this year.

Though Paswan first joined Bihar Assembly's legislative benches in 1969-eight years before Lalu became an MP in 1977 and 16 years before Nitish became an MLA in 1985-he has remained in the background, with the other two going on to man the top two positions in Bihar political pecking order for over two decades now.

Though Paswan has turned belligerent against his political opponents on the eve of assembly polls-trying to compensate his inferior role in his NDA alliance with aggression-the Dalit leader is unlikely to have a larger say before and after the elections.

For over three decades, Ram Vilas Paswan has always been considered among the top three leaders of Bihar. But the jarring irony is that he has always been the third. The secret sorrow of Ram Vilas Paswan life is that he seems destined to play the second fiddle whether in state or in the Centre.

In contrast, though Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar too has prospered on borrowed strength of alliance partners, first of the BJP and now Lalu Prasad, the Bihar Chief Minister has utilised his opportunities better to become leadership material in State unlike Paswan, who seems perennially on the wait list.

Paswan also has been gifted with a special talent -he knows exceedingly well just how to magnify his prospects in Delhi despite limited electoral presence in Bihar. Paswan is perhaps the only leader to serve as a Union Minister under six different Prime Ministers - Vishwanath Pratap Singh, H D Devegowda, I K Gujaral, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi. UPA II was the only government which did not include him as a minister from 2009 to 2014.

But, in the autumn of his political career; Paswan seems to have taken a strategic decision of staying out of the Chief Ministerial race. This is perhaps because he knows it will only weaken his position in the NDA at a time the alliance has already roped in Jitan Ram Manjhi as another prominent Dalit icon.

A day before he cut the cake; Paswan pierced his opponents with scathing barbs. The Union Minister questioned why neither Congress nor Nitish Kumar are shying away from using the picture of Lalu Prasad-who was Paswan's alliance partner when last assembly election was held in Bihar in October 2010-in their election campaigns.