Delivering a major jolt to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of Lalu Prasad Yadav just ahead of Legislative Council elections, five opposition MLCs on Tuesday joined the ruling Janata Dal (United) led by Nitish Kumar.
The five MLAc who joined the JD(U) are Radha Charan Shah, Sanjay Prasad, Dilip Rai, Md Kamar Alam, and Ranvijay Kumar Singh.
Interestingly, the MLCs who defected to the JD(U) do not face the anti-defection law as they form the two-third of the total MLCs of the RJD. The RJD has 8 members in the state’s Legislative Council.
The JD(U) with 21 MLCs is the single largest party in the 75-member Council which has an effective strength of 45. The BJP has 16 MLCs. The JD(U) and BJP jointly rule the state.
Polling to fill nine Legislative Council seats will be held on July 6.
A letter about formal joining of the RJD MLCs was forwarded by chief whip of the JD(U) Reena Devi to the acting chairman of the Upper House of the state legislature.
Meanwhile, senior RJD leader and its national vice president Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has resigned from his post. He is currently admitted to AIIMS in Patna after he tested positive for Coronavirus.
Last week, a former JD(U) MLC Javed Iqbal Ansari had joined the RJD.
The development assumes significance as it comes just a few weeks ahead of the Legislative Council elections for 9 seats and the Assembly elections scheduled for later this year. The eastern state will go to polls in October-November, the first elections to be held in a state since the COVID-19 outbreak.