In poll-bound Bihar, expelled Janata Dal (United) leader and former Industries Minister in the Nitish Kumar Cabinet Shyam Rajak on Monday joined the Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) while three RJD MLAs hopped over to the ruling JD(U). The Assembly elections are due in October-November.
Mr. Rajak was earlier in the RJD and Minister in the regimes of Mr. Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi. In 2009, he joined the JD(U) and was inducted into the Ministry in 2017 when Mr. Kumar formed the NDA government. “I’m getting emotional today on my homecoming,” said Mr. Rajak who returned to the RJD after 11 years.
Nitish slammed
Mr. Rajak slammed Mr. Kumar on several fronts. “He indulges in tall talk of development but one can see how much money his government has spent on development … what his views have been towards the Dalits or the marginalised sections,” said Mr. Rajak.
“The industries department was in a dormant state but when I revived it through various developmental works, roadblocks were put in my way…Nitish Kumar hears only what bureaucrats tell him.” Mr. Rajak was on Sunday expelled from the JD(U) and sacked from the Ministry by Governor on advice of the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Unfurling a copy of the constitution of the JD(U), Mr. Rajak said, “It is ridiculous to say I was expelled from the party…JD(U) even does not respect its own constitution,” he said.
Mr. Rajak also took on the Nitish government for its stand on the National Register of Citizenship and other issues.
On Sunday, the RJD also expelled three of its MLAs for anti-party activities.
The buzz in political circles is that another RJD MLA from Sasaram, Ashok Kushwaha, is also likely to join the JD(U) in a day or two.
The three RJD MLAs — Maheshwar Prasad Yadav (Gaighat), Prema Chaudhury (Patepur) and Dr Ashok Kumar (Sasaram) — joined the JD(U) in the presence of senior party leaders charging the RJD with becoming a party of the rich and sycophants.
