‘You are not going anywhere’: Lalu pens emotional letter to Raghuvansh Prasad Singh hours after latter’s resignation from RJD

Lalu Prasad Yadav pens emotional letter to Raghuvansh Prasad Singh after resignation.

Jailed RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav has made an emotional appeal to Raghuvansh Prasad Singh not to leave the party. Lalu’s letter comes hours after Raghuvansh sent his resignation to Lalu who is undergoing treatment at RIMS, Ranchi.

In his reply, Lalu said that his family needs him and told him that “you are not going anywhere”.

“…I cannot believe (that you have resigned from the RJD). My family and I want you to recover fast, and to see you standing among us. For the last four decades, we have sat together to make political, social, and even family decisions together. You should first recover, and we can then talk it out. You are not going anywhere. I am telling you,” he wrote.

Raghuvansh Prasad Singh was once considered Lalu’s close aide. He was reportedly sidelined by the party since his 2014 general election loss from Vaishali seat.

Raghuvansh wanted Rajya Sabha berth but the RJD denied him on many occasions. After the 2019 elections which Raghuvansh had lost, the politician wanted the RJD to nominate him to the Upper House.

Raghuvansh was also miffed over the leadership of Lalu’s son Tejashwi Yadav. He had in June resigned from the RJD’s national vice-president post after his rival Rama Singh met Tejashwi to pave his entry into the party.

While in 2014, Raghuvansh lost his stronghold Vaishali seat to LJP’s Rama Singh, he contested unsuccessfully in 2019 against LJP’ Veena Devi. Notably, Raghuvansh had won all the parliamentary elections since 1996 from Vaishali.

Raghuvansh and Rama Singh belong to the same caste — Rajput. They draw on support from the same political constituency.

According to reports, Rama Singh wants his wife to contest the Assembly election on the RJD’s symbol.

Raghuvansh has also been upset with Lalu’s eder son Tej Pratap Yadav who had dismissed him as “just a potful of water in the ocean of the RJD”.

Raghuvansh, 74, is undergoing treatment at AIIMS with a persistent cough after recovering from Covid-19.

Following Raghuvansh’s resignation from the RJD, the BJP said that it is a matter of concern for the RJD that its senior leaders are quitting.

“Raghuvansh Babu is a leader who commands respect of all parties. Why he quit the RJD is a matter of concern. Such a senior leader was not getting due respect from Lalu Prasad’s sons,” party spokesperson Nikhil Anand said.

JD(U) MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh said that it is unfortunate that RJD was not able to respect one of its tallest leaders.

“Raghuvansh Babu represents the legacy of socialists, but RJD could not respect him,” he said.

Meanwhile, reports suggest that Raghuvansh could join Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United).