PATNA:
FormerBiharCongresspresident Ram Jatan Sinha on Tuesday joined the ruling Janata Dal (United) and lavished praise on chief minister
Nitish Kumar, who heads the party.
After joining the
JD(
U) at an auditorium in presence of top leaders like national vice
president Prashant Kishor and state unit chief Vashishth Narayan Singh, Sinha was felicitated at the party office by Kumar.
Sinha is not an ordinary leader and his joining our party will have immense consequences, Kumar told reporters on the occasion.
Today, we see doors of political parties are closed on talented young people, which is regrettable. Our party, however, is different as it is not controlled by a family. And, therefore, there is hardly any social segment which is not duly represented in the
JD(
U), the chief minister said.
Earlier, at the party function in Bapu Sabhagar auditorium, Sinha had said
Nitish Kumar is a leader who thinks of Bihars development all the time. And the state has prospered under his leadership since he has eradicated social strife along the lines of caste and religion.
A known baiter of Lalu Prasad, Sinha also took potshots at the RJD supremos heir apparent
Tejashwi Yadav, whom he did not mention by name but remarked people without any formal education worth the name have the temerity to raise questions on the state of universities in
Bihar.
Sinha had severed his ties with the
Congress ahead of the 2015 assembly polls which he unsuccessfully contested as an Independent candidate.
A three-time MLA from Makhdumpur assembly segment in Jehanabad district, now a reserved constituency, Sinha had served as the BPCC
president in 2003.
Speculations are rife that he may be fielded by the
JD(
U) from Jehanabad
Lok Sabha segment, which has a sizeable population of Bhumihar community to which Sinha belongs.
Sinha is the second
former state unit chief of the
Congress to have joined the
JD(
U) in a year. In February last year, three
Congress MLCs including
former BPCC
president Ashok Choudhary had crossed over to
NitishKumars party.
Besides, another
former state
Congresspresident Mehboob Ali Kaiser is with Ram Vilas Paswans
Lok Janshakti Party, a partner in the states ruling alliance.
However, Tariq Anwar who had served as a BPCC
president in the 1980s but went on to co-found the NCP along with Sharad Pawar returned to the party last year