Munger MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan meets Upendra Kushwaha, sets rumour mills rolling

PATNA: JD(U) MP from Munger Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan met the party’s parliamentary board chairman and former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha at the residence of the latter here on Friday, creating ripples in the state’s political circles.
The development came barely two days after JD(U)’s Rajya Sabha member and national president of the party Ram Chandra Prasad Singh was inducted into the PM Union Cabinet and subsequently allotted the ministry of steel.
The two senior leaders held a closed-door meeting for over an hour. Though what transpired between them at the meeting was not immediately known, the two leaders claimed everything was fine in the JD(U).
When confronted, Lalan said, “We are old friends and also in the same party. No political meaning should be derived from today’s meeting. There is nothing unusual in it and meetings take place from time to time.”
Asked about his name missing from the council of ministers at the Centre, Lalan said the party’s national president, RCP Singh, was authorised to speak on the issue. “When CM Nitish Kumar has clarified the party’s stand on the matter, there is no point in making any further comment,” he said.
Earlier, Kushwaha rubbished reports that RCP Singh’s induction into the Union Cabinet caused resentment among others who were in the race from JD(U). “The party had never asked for any portfolio or number of berths in the new council of ministers,” he said.
JD(U) state president Umesh Kumar Kushwaha said the question of RCP Singh relinquishing the post of the party’s national president doesn’t arise. “There is no vacancy for the post,” he said, adding RCP Singh was nominated as the national president of the JD(U) for a term of three years.
Meanwhile, Upendra Kushwaha is set to launch his yatra from Champaran region on Saturday. During his yatra, he will take stock of the vaccination drive, meet the families of Covid victims and know about relief measures in the flood-affected areas.