PATNA: In a major jolt to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) ahead of Legislative Council polls in Bihar, five sitting party MLCs joined chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) on Tuesday. The assembly polls in the state are also due in October-November.
The RJD, which has eight MLCs, is now left with only three MLCs. The MLCs who defected to JD(U) are Radha Charan Shah (2015), Sanjay Prasad (2015), Dilip Rai (2015), Md Kamar Alam (2016) and Ranvijay Kumar Singh (2016).
All the MLCs who joined the JD(U) do not face the anti-defection law as they form the two-third of the total number of MLCs of the RJD. A letter about formal joining of the RJD MLCs was forwarded by chief whip of the JD(U) Reena Devi to acting chairman of the legislative council.
Tuesday’s development has made the JD(U) with 21 MLCs as the single largest party in the 75-member council, which presently has a strength of 46 as 29 seats are lying vacant. The BJP has 16 MLCs in the council and also has the support of an independent MLC. The polling for nine seats is schedule on July 6.
The development also means that former chief minister Rabri Devi would lose the status of leader of opposition in legislative council.
{{/usCountry}}The development also means that former chief minister Rabri Devi would lose the status of leader of opposition in legislative council.
{{/usCountry}}RJD state president Jagdanand Singh reacted strongly to the defection and warned JD (U) of a “befitting reply.” “Nitish Kumar has lured legistarors through money. The war has started. He will get a befitting reply,” said Singh.
However, RJD’s alliance partner, HAM-S spokesperson Danish Rizwan advised RJD that “instead of giving tickets to capitalists, the party (RJD) should respect its workers.”
JD (U) also took a dig at the RJD. “The party hardly respects its workers whereas Nitish Kumar respects all,” said JD (U) Munger MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lallan Singh.