JD(U) MLC Javed Iqbal Ansari meets RJD chief Lalu Prasad in Ranchi, talks of 'new leadership' in Bihar

PATNA: Former Bihar minister and ruling JD(U) MLC Javed Iqbal Ansari caused ripples in the state’s political circles on Saturday after he called on incarcerated RJD chief Lalu Prasad at Ranchi-based hospital and talked in favour of supporting a 'new leadership' in the state
Ansari also hinted to quit the JD(U) and support RJD in future by saying, "Nitish Kumar was a good leader. What is he today, you all know better. Bihar needs a new leadership.”
Sources said Ansari, who was a cabinet minister in a previous government led by Nitish Kumar, met Lalu for around half an hour at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS).
"I was brought into politics by Lalu Ji. Both, Lalu and former CM Rabri Devi always showered their blessings on me. Currently I am a JD(U) MLC. Even while in JD(U), I used to get blessings of Lalu Ji," Ansari told mediapersons soon after coming out of the RIMS at Ranchi.
To a query, Ansari said, “Bihar today needs a new leadership. The state requires a ‘Yuva Netritva’ (young leadership). This young leadership will grow further in Bihar.”
Political analysts say when Ansari talked about 'young leadership' he hinted towards leadership of Lalu’s son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.
Ansari was earlier in the RJD. He won MLA election from Banka three time (in 1995, February 2005 and 2010) on the RJD ticket. But he rebelled against the RJD leadership in April-May 2015 along with 12 other MLAs to extend support to then CM Nitish Kumar.
Ansari and two other RJD MLAs- Samrat Choudhary and Ram Lakhan Ram Raman- officially quit the RJD and membership of the assembly on May 18, 2014 when they submitted their resignation to then Bihar speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary. A few days later, Ansari and Raman were nominated as MLC from the governor’s quota the by the state government.
Iqbal and Raman were prominent among 13 RJD MLAs who had earlier proposed to the speaker to recognise them as a separate group in the assembly. But, later nine out of the 13 MLAs had returned to the RJD.
The resignation of the three MLAs—Ansari, Choudhary and Raman- had then reduced the RJD’s strength in the 243-member Bihar Assembly to 21.
Ansari's current term in the Bihar legislative council will expire on May 23 this year.