Patna: Two Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) lawmakers, Sangeeta Kumari and Chetan Anand, have resigned from the Bihar Legislative Assembly. This is a new political twist just before the Bihar Assembly elections next month. Both are likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Assembly Secretariat sent out a notice that the Mohania and Sheohar Assembly seats are now open because the members have resigned.
Both leaders were not available to speak right away, but their departure is another blow to the RJD as political loyalties in the state change.
Earlier this year, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) rejoined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Since then, Kumari and Anand have been sitting on the treasury benches during Assembly meetings. The RJD then filed disqualification petitions against them, which are now waiting for Speaker Nand Kishor Yadav to decide.
The two-phase Bihar Assembly elections are set for November 6 and 11, with vote counting on November 14. Their resignations come just weeks before these polls.
This comes after a number of people have quit in the past few months. Earlier, Murari Prasad Gautam, a former minister and leader of the Congress party, and Bharat Bind, an RJD MLA from Bhabhua, both left the Assembly. This shows that there is a lot of movement across party lines as the elections get closer.
As political alignments change, experts say the BJP might leverage these MLAs’ defection to build its base, especially in western and northern Bihar, where both leaders have a lot of power.