JD(U) denies ticket to RCP Singh, names Kheeru Mahto
PATNA: In a surprise move, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United on Sunday opted for former Jharkhand lawmaker Kheeru Mahto as the party’s choice for the Rajya Sabha seat, denying a third term to Union steel minister RCP Singh whose term in the Upper House ends on July 7.
Nitish Kumar’s party announced its pick for the June 10 Rajya Sabha elections on Sunday evening, hours after alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) named its candidates. The BJP retained sitting MP Satish Chandra Dubey for a second term but decided against renominating another sitting MP Gopal Narain Singh. Instead, the party has selected Bihar BJP secretary Sambhu Saran Patel.
Mahto, who was elected to the Jharkhand assembly from Mandu in 2005, is also JD (U) Jharkhand unit president.
“He is a commoner, poor party worker and this is another step in honouring party workers who have been associated with us since the days of Samaata Party,” said JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh. “We want to expand the party and this is one reason we want to expand beyond Bihar as well,” he added.
Earlier this month, the JD(U) sent Anil Hedge, another senior party man to the Rajya Sabha on the seat which fell vacant after the death of its sitting member Mahendra Prasad, also known as King Mahendra.
The party’s decision against re-nominating RCP Singh, who was considered a close associate of chief minister Nitish Kumar, has put a question mark on his continuation in the Union cabinet. He was inducted in the cabinet reshuffle in July last year.
Rajiv Ranjan Singh denied that there was any bitterness in the party and underlined that RCP Singh was a two-time Rajya Sabha member, party general secretary as well as the union minister. Senior JD (U) leader Upendra Kushwaha insisted that the decision should not be seen in terms of power blocks within the party. “There is no power block in the party. There is only one leader in the party and that is Nitish Kumar. What will happen to his (RCP Singh’s) ministerial post is the prerogative of PM Narendra Modi,” said Lalan Singh. Despite repeated efforts, RCP Singh could not be contacted for his comments.
The BJP’s decision to elevate Bihar BJP’s Sambhu Saran Patel is seen as an attempt to reach out to the Dhanuk community, which constitutes about 5% of the state’s population and has mostly been seen to align with the JDU. “I am honoured and will do whatever party assigns me to do,” Patel said.