Lalu loyalist joins BJP

Ram Kripal Yadav on Wednesday embraced the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after over two decades as former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad’s lieutenant safeguarding social justice in the state.

 

Yadav became the latest among a host of backward-class and Dalit leaders to join the saffron party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

 

"I am highly obliged that the BJP has considered me worthy to join it. I will work as a grassroots worker for the party," he said.

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He further added that the RJD has moved away from its founding principles and Lalu Prasad gave precedence to his family over party and cadres.

 

Yadav last week resigned from the party after he was denied a Lok Sabha seat by the RJD boss.

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The former RJD strongman is likely to contest Lok Sabha polls from Pataliputra constituency against Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharati.

 

Until Lalu Prasad announced his eldest daughter's candidature to take on his friend-turned-foe Ranjan Prasad Yadav in the Patliputra seat, Yadav had stood like a rock beside the RJD chief even as other senior party leaders started deserting him. He wept publicly whenever Lalu Prasad went to jail in connection with the fodder scam case.

 

The 56-year-old leader has thrice been a Lok Sabha member and is currently in the Rajya Sabha.