Bihar polls: 3 RJD MLAs including Tej Pratap's father-in-law Chandrika Rai join JD(U)

In a major jolt to Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD, senior RJD MLA Chandrika Rai along with two MLAs Faraz Fatmi and Jaiwardhan Yadav joined the ruling Nitish Kumar-led JD(U). Incidentally, Rai is the father of the ex-wife of Yadav's son - Tej Pratap. RJD had expelled Fatmi who is the son of Mohammad Ali Ashraf Fatmi, a former Union minister who had quit the RJD ahead of the Lok Sabha elections of 2019 after being denied a ticket and is now currently in JD(U).

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3 RJD MLAs join JD(U) 

Previously on Monday, three RJD MLAs - Maheshwar Prasad Yadav, Prema Choudhary and Ashok Kumar Kushwaha joined JD(U) in presence of senior leader and states Energy Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav at the JD(U) office. While the RJD had expelled Yadav and Choudhary on Sunday, Kushwaha quit Lalu Prasad's party hours before joining the JD(U). The three MLAs who joined the JD(U) expressed full faith in the leadership of Kumar and said the work of his government inspired them to switch sides.

On the other hand, the JD(U) expelled Bihar Industries Minister Shyam Rajak and sacked him from his ministerial post. Rajak who is unhappy with Ashok Choudhary's entry into JDU, promptly joined RJD in the presence of Tejashwi Yadav. All these switching of sides comes just before the state goes to polls in November. 

3 RJD MLAs join JD(U) ahead of Bihar polls

Bihar assembly elections 

Bihar is going to polls in October-November this year. As BJP lost in Delhi, all eyes are set on former party chief Amit Shah and Nitish Kumar -led JDU. While Kumar faces strong anti-incumbency, RJD - Bihar's main opposition has lost the lusture it once had due to the absence of it's chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.  Currently, the JDU-BJP combination rules the state with 131 seats, while RJD-Congress opposition has 111 seats.

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However, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav has been amplifying his attack against the BJP government and has been portrayed as the CM candidate of the Mahagathbandhan. Meanwhile, former JDU vice president Prashant Kishor has also claimed that he is working at 'ground level' for the development of Bihar.  In a twist of sorts, London-based Pushpam Priya Choudhary, the daughter of JDU leader Binod Choudhary, on March 8 declared herself as the Chief Ministerial candidate.

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