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Ahead of Bihar polls, party hoppers, disgruntled leaders make beeline for LJP
The highest number of leaders to join the LJP is from the BJP.
Party hopping is not a new thing, but in Bihar it has acquired a new dimension this time with the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) being a ready option available for disgruntled leaders of all hues ahead of the assembly election.
If the leader is from the BJP, the transition is smooth, though leaders discarded from other parties are also finding their way into the LJP.
BJP’s Bihar unit vice president Rajendra Singh (from Dinara), former MLA and senior BJP leader Rameshwar Chaursia (from Nokha), former MLA Usha Vidyarthi (from Paliganj)… the list is getting longer. They were in BJP till Tuesday, but will now be contesting on LJP tickets in the upcoming polls.
While all the parties were grappling with seat sharing and ticket distribution till a couple of days before the filing of first phase nomination, which ends on Thursday, the LJP’s list has got further delayed.
According to party leaders, the LJP could announce candidates for 35-36 seats for the first phase. There are 71 seats out of 243 going to polls in the first phase on October 28.
BJP’s Jhajha MLA Ravindra Yadav, who had defeated JD(U) candidate in 2015 despite Grand Alliance (GA) sweep in Bihar, joined the LJP after his seat went to JD(U) in seat sharing. Ravindra Yadav is a senior leader, having served twice as MLA and once as MLC. He also won on the Congress ticket in 1995, while his father Shiv Nandan Yadav represented Jhajha twice on a Congress ticket.
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From Amarpur seat, BJP’s Mrinal Shekhar, who lost to JD(U)’s Janardan Manjhi in 2015, has switched over to LJP after the seat went to Nitish Kumar’s party. From Jehanabad, Indu Kashyap who moved from the BJP to the LJP will take on JD(U)’s Krishnandan Verma, who is the education minister of Bihar. Kashyap’s facebook page is still full of BJP posters.
From Tekari seat in Gaya, former JD(U) leader Kamlesh Sharma, who moved to RJD earlier this year, will contest on the LJP symbol. Tekari seat has gone to the BJP this time.
Former JD(U) memer Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha will be the LJP candidate from Jagdishpur. He had switched over to the JD(U) after leaving the Rashtriya Lok Samata party (RLSP). JD(U) has fielded a woman, Shushmlata Kushwaha from Jagdishpur this time.
Similarly, with Belaganj (Gaya) and Sandesh (Bhojpur) seats going to the JD(U), former BJP members Kundan Sharma and Sanjay Singh have been fielded by the LJP. RJD’s Surendra Yadav has won the Belaganj seat eight times and is again contesting. BJP’s Sanjay Singh had contested from Sandesh last time and lost.
From Brahampur, strongman Hulas Pandey, brother of former MLA Sunil Pandey, is the LJP candidate. Hulas Pandey was earlier a JD(U) MLC.
“We are contesting to win as many seats as possible to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a new government that could work on his plan with a ‘Bihar first, Biahari first’ vision. If good leaders come to us, we don’t have any issue,” said LJP spokesman Vikas Mishra.
However, LJP could also end up having some contest with the BJP, as on Govindganj seat in East Champaran, and Lalganj in Vaishali district. Both the seats with sitting LJP MLAs have gone to the BJP in the NDA seat sharing deal.
Though the LJP had decided not to field candidates against the BJP, it would be hard to avoid. The BJP has not refrained from fielding candidates on all its 121 seats, including on the sitting seats of the LJP, in keeping with its announcement that NDA was one and fighting under the leadership of Nitish Kumar.
The Govindganj seat is held by LJP State parliamentary board president Raju Tiwari, while from the Lalganj seat, LJP candidate Raj Kumar had won in 2015, defeating JD(U)’s Vijay Kumar.
