A “Mahadalit” face of the JD(U), Uday Narayan Choudhary has been critical of the CM ever since Nitish Kumar returned to the NDA fold.
Former Bihar Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary on Wednesday resigned from the primary membership of the JD(U) while criticising the party chief and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as “anti-dalit and undemocratic”.
A “Mahadalit” face of the JD(U), Choudhary has been critical of the CM ever since Nitish Kumar returned to the NDA fold. Though he has not made any announcement, speculation is rife that Choudhary will join the RJD-led Grand Alliance.
“One thing is sure — I am not joining BJP or its allies LJP or RLSP. But I am not averse to the Grand Alliance. Whether I will be with Sharad Yadav or Lalu Prasad, it is the same thing,” he told The Indian Express.
Criticising the Bihar CM, he said: “I had been raising concerns against discontinuance of scholarship schemes for the poor, but the state government paid no heed to my request. I had also requested the CM to write to the Centre to introduce reservation in private sector, but nothing happened.”
Chowdhury recently joined the Rashtra Manch — a political action group launched by former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha.
“Though I appreciate what (CM) Nitish Kumar did for Mahadalits during his first two terms as the CM, he has erred in replacing scholarship scheme with student credit card scheme, which is nothing but a loan scheme,” he said.
Choudhury also took a dig at JD(U)’s selection of candidates for Rajya Sabha and Bihar Legislative Council. “Either dhan pashu (moneyed people) or new entrants had been given preference and committed workers were ignored,” he said.
Calling it a ceremonial exit, JD(U) national spokesperson KC Tyagi told The Indian Express: “Uday Narayan Choudhary had not been an active member of our party for last six months. It is just his formal and ceremonial exit from the party.”