Setback for BSP in Bihar; State Unit President quits party, joins RJD

Patna: Bahujan Samajvadi Party state unit president Bharat Bind quit and joined RJD on Saturday. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav gave membership of the party to the BSP leader.

Yadav released a picture admitting Bind into the party on his twitter and also the party's social media platform.

Yadav, the younger son of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, wrote on his twitter handle that the Bahujan Samaj Party Bihar president joined them to lend support in making a new Bihar and remove anti-youth NDA.

The move by the party's state chief itself is a setback for BSP, which is part of a three-party alliance headed by Upendra Kushwaha of RLSP for Bihar polls.

Mayawati's party had faced desertions in Bihar in 2010 too when its three MLAs had switched sides to Lalu Prasad's party after cross-voting for the then RJD-LJP nominees for Rajya Sabha election- Ramvilas Paswan and Ramkripal Yadav

After being spurned by the NDA and discarded by the RJD-helmed mahagathbandhan, Kushwaha has forged an alliance with the BSP and a non-descript Janatantrik Party (Socialist) for the Bihar elections.

On September 29, Kushwaha, a former Union Minister of State, had announced the coalition in the presence of the BSP and JP-S state unit chiefs in Patna.

BSP supremo Mayawati has also announced that her party would be supporting Kushwaha as the "Chief Ministerial" candidate in Bihar, an assertion which is being ridiculed at by the ruling NDA well as the grand alliance comprising RJD, Congress and others.

Kushwaha formed the new political front after his talks with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Leader of Opposition and RLD leader Tejashwi Yadav on seat-sharing failed to bear fruit.

"In the last 15 years, Nitish Kumar has just saved his own chair and nothing else. And to achieve it, he made several compromises. His claims on development in all sectors in Bihar are just false and nothing else. The ground reality is completely different from what he is claiming."the RLSP chief had said,lashing out at Nitish Kumar.

Kushwaha had also alleged that the education sector in Bihar was at its lowest whereas the crime graph and corruption was the highest.

"Nitish's rule is similar to that of the RJD government's 15 years," he had remarked.

Kushwaha also attacked the Rashtriya Janata Dal, alleging that the opposition party was "run by an undermatriculate".

"We have two CMs (Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi) who failed to ensure matriculation by their sons Tejashwi and Tej Pratap. Now, they have given the party command to one of them," the former MP had said.

Kushwaha claimed that he had asked top RJD leaders for a change in the party leadership but they turned it down and hence he decided to part ways with the Grand Alliance

"On the other hand, the saffronisation of Nitish Kumar and his Janata Dal-United is complete. I even have doubts that the RJD is also under the influence of BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh," the RLSP chief had said.

(With inputs from agencies)