Bihar: Rupauli MLA Bima Bharti quits JD(U), joins RJD

Patna, In a setback to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD, its MLA Bima Bharti on Saturday quit the party and joined his arch-rival Lalu Prasad’s RJD, triggering speculations that she might get a Lok Sabha ticket.
She was inducted into the RJD by former Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav late in the evening, hours after her resignation letter went viral on social media.
On switching sides, Bharti said, “My husband and son are in jail, which is proof that ‘ati-pichhda’ classes enjoy no respect in Bihar’s ruling coalition. Lalu-ji has assured me of his blessings. I am ready to contest Lok Sabha polls if he asks me to do so.”
Bharti, a former state minister, represents the Rupauli assembly segment in the Purnea district. She had remained conspicuous by her absence at the state assembly last month when the Nitish Kumar government sought a trust vote.
Once known to be in the good books of the CM, she got on his wrong side a few years ago when she threw a fit over the induction of Leshi Singh in the state cabinet.
Singh is the JD MLA from Dhamdaha in Purnea and her late husband Butan Singh, a local strongman, had been a fierce rival of Bharti’s spouse Awadhesh Mandal.
Speculations are rife that Bharti may be fielded by the RJD from Purnea though it could lead to problems with ally Congress, which recently inducted ex-MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav who wants to contest that seat.
Meanwhile, in a related development, former MLA Faraz Fatmi also gave up his membership of the JD, less than a week after the resignation of his father Mohammed Ali Ashraf Fatmi, who was a national general secretary in the party.
The father-son duo has been formerly associated with the RJD. Fatmi senior is a four-term former MP and has expressed his desire to contest the Lok Sabha poll from Madhubani, a seat which has gone into the kitty of JD’s ally BJP.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.