Rabri loses LoP status as 5 out of 8 RJD MLCs join JD(U)

Development comes ahead of next month’s elections to 9 Council seats

Former CM Rabri Devi suffered a major political loss as she was deprived of her status as leader of opposition (LoP) in the Bihar Legislative Council on Tuesday as five out of 8 Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Legislative Council members deserted the party and joined the ruling JD (U). They are Sanjay Prasad, Radhacharan Sheth, Dilip Rai, Md Kamar Alam and Ran Vijay Singh. The development comes ahead of next month's elections to the nine Council seats. Sources said many RJD MLAs too were in touch with the ruling party for switching alliances.

Chairman of the Council, Awadesh Narain Singh said the five RJD MLCs who left the party have been allowed membership in JD (U). According to a notification issued by the Council secretary, Vinod Kumar, these legislators were elected in 2015 and 2016 from local bodies constituencies and assembly constituencies. They submitted their papers and expressed their willingness to join JD (U) and handed over a letter to the chief whip of the ruling party Reena Devi.

The chairman met the five MLCs individually and after being satisfied with their signature and decision without pressure, he allowed them to join JD (U).

All five MLCs later went to the Chief Minister's residence at 1, Anney Marg and expressed their support to Nitish Kumar’s leadership, who is also national president of the party.

RJD suffered another setback in the day as its national vice-president, Raghuwansh Prasad Singh announced that he was resigning from his post. He is close to RJD supremo Lalu Yadav's family. He is an ex-cabinet minister and is currently admitted to AIIMS, Patna, as he was tested positive for COVID-19. In a statement issued from the Corona isolation ward in AIIMS here Raghuwansh Prasad Singh, a former union minister for rural development said he was hurt that money was playing its role in RJD. He said he was unhappy that Rama Singh, a former MP of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) who had contested against him (Raghuwansh) was admitted in RJD by Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. Rama Singh is considered a Bahubali in North Bihar politics and had defeated Raghuwansh in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll. He was in Durg jail (Chhattisgarh) on charges of alleged kidnapping a businessman for ransom. Raghuwansh said he had communicated to party president Lalu Yadav and suggested Rama Singh should not be allowed entry into the RJD.