Ahead of the Bihar assembly polls, political parties are cracking down on rebel leaders. After the ruling Janata Dal-United removed its rebels, the Rashtriya Janata Dal expelled 27 leaders on Monday, citing ‘anti-party’ activities.
RJD stated that the leaders who have been disqualified from the party were working against the officially declared candidates of the party and the INDIA bloc.
Among the expelled leaders including two MLAs and four former legislators and an MLC.
RJD state chief Mangani Lal Mandal, in a statement, said that expelled leaders have also been suspended from the party’s primary membership.
Rebellion ahead of Bihar polls
This comes a day after the RJD’s rival and National Democratic Alliance partner, Janata Dal (United), expelled 16 of its members. The JD(U) members were expelled after they filed nomination papers for the upcoming Bihar elections.
The BJP also expelled six members, including Kahalgaon MLA Pawan Yadav. The leaders, too, were expelled for anti-party activities.
The Bihar election is testing all the parties. As the BJP-led NDA, Congress-led INDIA bloc and Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj have locked horns for the Assembly elections.
The NDA and the INDIA bloc fielded candidates who could win the constituencies, after an elaborate seat-sharing formula. However, during the seat-sharing process, the coalitions dropped even many of the sitting MLAs from contesting the polls. This created a division in the party and the leaders started a rebellion.
NDA, INDIA bloc
In Bihar’s 243 constituencies, both the JD(U) and the BJP have agreed to contest 101 seats each.
As for the other NDA partners; the Chirag Paswan-led LJP(RV) will fight in 29 seats, while the Upendra Kushwaha-led Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) and former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), will contest six seats each.
The NDA is yet to announce its chief ministerial face for Bihar, while the opposition Mahagathbandhan has picked Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Tejashwi Yadav for the top post.
