A day ahead of voting for the Munger Assembly seat, Jan Suraaj candidate Sanjay Kumar Singh resigned from the party, joined the BJP and announced his support for his BJP rival, Kumar Pranay.
The Jan Suraaj is now four candidates down, with its nominees in Danapur, Brahampur and Gopalganj earlier withdrawing or distancing themselves from the elections.
Singh, 52, said he took the decision “in the interest of development and a stable government”. “I have decided to fully support the NDA candidate and will make every effort to ensure his victory by a large margin.”
Welcoming Singh into the fold, Pranay referred to him as an elder brother and said his support was “invaluable”. “Sanjay Kumar Singh has always represented the voice of the people. His decision strengthens our collective resolve for development and stability in Munger,” Pranay said.
A district BJP functionary hailed Singh as someone “who believes in the party’s vision of development”, and said he had “foregone personal political ambitions” for this.
With the exit of Singh, a zila parishad member who belongs to the EBC group Dhanuk, the Munger contest is now a direct one between the BJP’s Singh and the RJD’s repeat candidate Avinash Kumar Vidyarthi.
Munger is an unpredictable Assembly constituency, alternating between the Janata Dal, RJD and JD(U) till the BJP won it in 2020. What is a constant is the sway of caste and community alignment, with the electorate a complex mix of Yadavs, Muslims, Vaishyas and upper castes.
The BJP was seen to have taken a risk by fielding Pranay, in place of its sitting MLA, Pranav Kumar Yadav. While the Jan Suraaj was unlikely to have won, Singh’s community ties and grassroots influence may have split votes. Dhanuks, who have anyway been backing the BJP, may now rally behind Pranay, which could prove crucial.
The RJD’s Vidyarthi is a Yadav, and lost in 2020 to the BJP’s Pranav Kumar Yadav by just 1,244 votes.
Earlier, after his nominees withdrew at the last minute, Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor accused the BJP of “intimidating” his party’s candidates, specifically naming Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan. He said it was a sign that the BJP was afraid of “the professionals and honest candidates fielded by the Jan Suraaj”.
