Will join Cong after state polls: Lalan

Disgruntled JDU Lok Sabha MP Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh,who has been openly defying the party for close to a year now...

Disgruntled JDU Lok Sabha MP Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh,who has been openly defying the party for close to a year now,has finally made it clear that he will join the Congress after the Assembly elections in Bihar. He will,however,campaign for the Congress and share dais with all its top leaders,including Sonia Gandhi,when they visit the state in the run-up to the elections.

Singh hasnt resigned from the JDU as that would mean giving up the LS seat. While Chief Minister Nitish Kumar hasnt expelled him from the party and thus make him a martyr,Singh has apparently been urging JDU president Sharad Yadav to expel him.

Confirming his decision,Singh told The Indian Express: I have been in constant touch with some top Congress leaders. But my immediate task is to ensure the defeat of Nitish-led NDA and see that the Congress emerges a potent force. I will join the party after the election results.

Reacting to the development,JDU national spokesperson Shivanand Tiwari said: Lalan Singhs move is on expected lines. For the past 10 months now,he has been indulging in anti-party activities. The party will mull action against him at an appropriate time.

Singh,who has launched an anti-Nitish campaign across Bihar,mostly amongst upper caste-dominated areas,said there was no place for individualistic politics in Bihar that witnessed it for 20 years during the rule of Lalu,Rabri and Nitish.

The Congress,he said,was an organisation-based party with the potential to regain its vote base in the forthcoming elections. He said he has had to compromise with his prolonged anti-Congress politics with little option left for him after having fallen out with Nitish Kumar.

Most upper caste votes would go with the Congress in the elections,as the RJD-LJP combine has failed to inspire people by projecting Lalu as its CM candidate, said Singh.

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JDU,however,is unfazed with the defiance. Nitish,without naming any detractor,said: No caste arithmetic will work this time. The people of Bihar now understand the language of development. Carrying out some special welfare schemes for marginalised people did not mean that the NDA government had neglected other sections read upper castes.