RJD ex-MP Sitaram Yadav, some other oppn leaders join BJP

The RJD on Wednesday suffered a setback, with former Sitamarhi MP Sitaram Yadav and over a dozen Yadav leaders from different opposition parties joining the BJP in presence of Bihar party in-charge Bhupendra Yadav and state BJP president Dr Sanjay Jaiswal.

Sitaram Yadav, a two-time MP from Sitamarhi, holds sizable influence in his area. After he joined, Bhupendra Yadav said, “Our party would only get stronger with presence of leaders like Sitaram Yadav.”

The BJP is currently expanding its reach among the Yadav community in its bid to split the core constituency of RJD and claims to be in touch with some more RJD leaders for its “mission 2024”. A BJP leader said, “Our party has been further looking at consolidation of Yadav constituency. We already have strong Yadav faces like Ram Kripal Yadav, Nand Kishore Yadav and Nityanand Rai. Sitaram Yadav has surely added strength to our party.”

Other prominent leaders who joined the saffron party include former LJP MLA Nagina Devi and Santosh Mehta, who had unsuccessfully contested from Patna Saheb against BJP veteran leader Nand Kishore Yadav. Former RJD MLC Dilip Kumar Yadav, Patna Municipal Corporation RJD councillor Sunita Devi and former RJD state vice president Ramji Manjhi also joined the BJP.

Former Bihar Congress spokesperson and Patna Municipal Corporation deputy mayor Mira Devi and about half a dozen other leaders from Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) also joined BJP.

Meanwhile, RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tewari told The Indian Express, “If BJP is making expelled and suspended RJD leaders join it, let them be happy. All those RJD leaders who joined BJP are like expired medicines.”