In election season, foes turn friends in Bihar
Aksheev Thakur
New Delhi, May 9
Amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, sworn political enemies are becoming friends to come to power. On Thursday, former MP Ranjan Prasad Yadav who once defeated former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav joined the RJD.
Ranjan Prasad joins RJD
- Ex-MP Ranjan Prasad Yadav who once defeated former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad Yadav joins RJD
- BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy and ex-RJD leader Chandrika Rai join hands. In the 2019 poll, the RJD had fielded Rai against Rudy from Saran
Ranjan, a childhood friend of Lalu, parted ways with the RJD in 2003. In the 2009 poll, Ranjan defeated Lalu from the Patliputra Lok Sabha constituency. In 2014, there was a triangular fight among JD(U)’s Ranjan, Lalu’s daughter Misa Bharati and BJP’s Ram Kripal Yadav. Misa lost the election by over 40,000 votes as Ranjan’s entry impacted the JD(U) voter share. Ranjan got 97,000 votes. Ram Kripal emerged victorious in the poll.
Last month, Vikassheel Insaan Party chief Mukesh Sahni joined the INDIA bloc and shook hands with former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav after walking out of the “grand alliance” ahead of the Bihar Assembly poll in 2020. Sahni had then accused Tejashwi of backstabbing him.
Similarly, BJP MP from the Saran seat Rajiv Pratap Rudy and former RJD leader Chandrika Rai have joined hands. In the 2019 poll, the RJD had fielded Rai against Rudy from Saran. Rai lost the elections by over 1.38 lakh votes. However, in this election he is seen campaigning for Rudy.
Rai’s daughter Aishwarya is married to Lalu’s son Tej Pratap Yadav.
Munger has caught everyone’s attention after the convicted gangster-turned-politician Anant Singh who is currently out on parole was seen campaigning for JD(U)’s Lalan Singh. Earlier, Anant had accused Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of putting him behind the jail as he had worked against Lalan in the poll.
