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Bihar Election: Former JD(U) MLAs Santosh Kushwaha and Rahul Sharma on Friday joined the opposition RJD ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections to be held next month.
Bihar Election: Former JD(U) MLAs Santosh Kushwaha and Rahul Sharma on Friday joined the opposition RJD ahead of next month’s Bihar assembly elections. JD(U)’s Banka MP Girdhari Prasad Yadav’s son Chanakya Prasad Ranjan and Lok Janshakti Party leader Ajay Kushwaha also joined RJD in the presence of party leader Tejashwi Yadav. Welcoming the new members, Yadav said that the RJD family welcomes Santosh Kushwaha, Rahul Sharma, Ajay Kushwaha and Chanakya Prasad Ranjan. His joining will strengthen the party. Tejashwi Yadav alleged that people have become disillusioned with the ruling NDA in Bihar.
Won election against Modi wave
Tejashwi Yadav said that the Chief Minister is not in his senses. People will overthrow his government in the assembly elections. Santosh Kushwaha had won the Purnia Lok Sabha seat for JD(U) twice in a row, but lost to independent candidate Pappu Yadav last year. His debut in the Lok Sabha in 2014 surprised many when he quit the BJP. Contesting the elections against the Modi wave, he won one of the only two seats in Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s party for JD(U). Disappointed by the defeat, he left the post taking moral responsibility, but returned less than a year later. Rahul Sharma is a former MLA from Ghosi in Jehanabad district and is the son of Jagdish Sharma, a political veteran of the area.
Rahul Sharma was MLA 8 times
Rahul Sharma had won this seat a record eight times as an independent as well as on the tickets of Janata Party, BJP and JD(U). The inclusion of Ajay Kushwaha and Chanakya Prasad Ranjan is being seen as part of the RJD’s strategy to woo the Kushwaha community and the Bhumihars, a powerful upper caste group, into its fold. Both have been traditionally associated with the NDA. It is noteworthy that JD(U)’s Banka MP had opposed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list recently conducted by the Election Commission, for which he was issued a show cause notice by the party. Ajay Kushwaha had contested the 2020 assembly elections from Vaishali on an LJP ticket, but lost to JD(U)’s Siddharth Patel. Both are traditionally in alliance with the NDA. Voting for the assembly elections will be held on 6th and 11th November, while the counting of votes will take place on 14th November.
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