Raghuvansh Prasad Singh may stay back in RJD after Lalu Prasad’s letter

PATNA: Senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, who earlier on Thursday indicated his exit from the party that he helped Lalu Prasad found more than three decades ago, is most likely to reverse his stand following a letter from RJD chief Lalu Prasad, currently serving a prison term in Ranchi.
Earlier in the day, Raghuvansh in a hand-written letter in Hindi addressed to Lalu, stated, “I stood by you (Lalu) for 32 years ever since the death of Karpoori Thakur, but now no more”.
The RJD veteran, who is currently undergoing post-Covid treatment at AIIMS-Delhi, added, “I got immense affection from the party’s leaders and workers as well as the common people, but please forgive me.”
Hours later, Lalu, too, issued a similar hand-written letter in Hindi addressed to Raghuvansh, saying, he would not allow his old friend to go.
“A letter, purportedly written by you (Raghuvansh), is being circulated in the media. I do not believe it is by you. For now, I, my family and the RJD family nurtured by us, want to see you recover soon and be amidst us,” read the letter signed by Lalu and bearing the stamp of Ranchi’s Birsa Munda central jail’s superintendent.
A close confidant of the senior RJD leader told TOI, “He is most likely to reverse his stand after the letter from Lalu Ji. He will officially clear his stand to the media in a day or two.”
In his letter, Lalu further stated, “For the past four decades, we have sat together and discussed every political, social and even family issues. You first recover and then we will sit and talk. You are not going anywhere. Please bear that in mind,”
Though Raghuvansh didn’t mention in his letter the reason behind his decision, sources said he was disappointed as nobody from the party took care to be with him when he was admitted to AIIMS-Delhi. The sources added that CM Nitish Kumar facilitated his travel from Patna to New Delhi during the lockdown and also enquired about his health from time to time.
“He was feeling neglected in RJD. He had no role to play in the organisational setup nor was being consulted by top leaders like Tejashwi Yadav on issues such as induction of new leaders in the party. Even state president Jagadanand Singh was not on good terms with him after the former raised questions over the latter’s style of functioning,” a senior RJD leader said on condition of anonymity.
Earlier in June this year, Raghuvansh had resigned as the party’s national vice-president while undergoing treatment for Covid at AIIMS-Patna. One of the reasons attributed for his decision was the likely entry of LJP MP from Vaishali and muscleman Ram Kishore Singh, alias, Rama Singh into the party.
However, his resignation was not accepted by party chief Lalu Prasad and Rama Singh’s induction event into the RJD was put on hold. Tejashwi had also tried to persuade him and even met Raghuvansh at AIIMS-Delhi a fortnight ago.
“He was against the entry of Rama Singh and is also not happy with Jagdanand Singh being given more responsibilities. Both belong to the Rajput community. While Lalu Ji knew how to handle both, Tejashwi is more inclined towards Jagdanand and Raghuvansh babu felt ignored,” said another senior RJD leader.
However, the ruling JDU welcomed Raghuvansh’s decision. Asked if JD(U) will welcome Raghuvansh, JD(U)’s secretary-general and national spokesperson KC Tyagi said, “He is such a renowned and respectful leader and we will welcome his decision. Raghuvansh babu was the leader of United Janta Dal and one of its founding members. He belongs to all of us and not the RJD.”