On Friday, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav firmly ruled out the possibility of controversial Mokama MLA Anant Singh’s entry into the Grand Alliance in Bihar of which his party is the largest constituent.
Leader of the opposition in the state assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, made it clear in response to queries about Anant Singh, who has for the past few days been praising RJD chief Lalu Yadav, while expressing his desire to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Munger.
Tejashwi Yadav told reporters in Bihar capital Patna, “We cannot have bad elements like him into our party. His is an ideology that goes against the very idea of social justice which our party has always been committed to.”
Tej Pratap Yadav, elder brother of Tejashwi Yadav, had said while responding to queries on the issue that the final call on such matters has to be taken by Laluji But entry of such people may send a wrong message.
Anant Singh is a third-term lawmaker, who is known for his strong-arm style of politics, has been saying that he will contest elections from Munger, even if it meant taking on Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan who is at present an influential minister in the Nitish Kumar government in the state and whom the Mokama lawmaker is known to hold in high esteem.
As per the tentative seat-sharing arrangement among the NDA allies, the Lok Sabha seat which is currently represented by Lok Janshakti Party’s Veena Devi may now go to the JD (U) which is headed by the Chief Minister.
According to reports, Nitish Kumar may field Lalan from the seat which the minister has represented in the past and from where he had contested as the party candidate in 2014 as well.
Reportedly, Veena Devi, who had initially objected to the decision, saying she would seek re-election from Munger even if it required her to resign from the LJP, headed by Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, has now changed tack and said she would be doing her party’s bidding.
It is believed that Veena Devi’s husband Suraj Bhan Singh is himself a history sheeter-turned-politician who enjoys the rank of a national vice-president in the party but stands disqualified from contesting elections on account of conviction in the murder of a former Bihar minister.
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