Former JDU MP Santosh Kushwaha, ex-MLA Rahul Sharma join RJD ahead of Bihar polls

Patna (Bihar) [India], October 11 (ANI): In a major blow to the Janata Dal (United), its former lawmakers, Santosh Kumar Kushwaha and Rahul Sharma, have joined the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections
Former Purnea MP Santosh Kushwaha reasoned that the party's unfair distribution of power and lack of touch with ground reality led to his decision.
Speaking with ANI, Kushwaha further expressed his confidence in Tejashwi Yadav's leadership.
"Right now, JDU is in the hands of a few people... Its leadership is handled by people who have no experience of ground reality. We said that there can be no compromise on self-respect. None of our concerns were heard... I am confident that under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav, Bihar will move forward, and on 14 November, a government will be formed under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav," he said.
Santosh Kumar Kushwaha had won Purnea Lok Sabha constituency twice, in 2014 and 2019, but lost to the independent candidate Pappu Yadav in 2024.
Former MLA from Ghosi assembly constituency, Rahul Kumar, expressed his disappointment with the government's representatives behind his decision to leave JDU.
"Several incidents were happening in the area. The government's representatives paid no attention to it. Seeing all these things, we decided to leave the party and opt for a strong alternative. For that, we found Tejaswi Yadav's employment program effective and we joined it (RJD)," he said.
Rahul Sharma served as an MLA from Ghosi assembly constituency in Jehanabad district from 2010 to 2015.
The Election Commission has announced the schedule for the Bihar Assembly elections. The 243 Assembly seats will go to the polls in two phases on November 6 and November 11, with counting scheduled for November 14.
This upcoming electoral contest will be between the NDA, led by the BJP, and Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)), and the INDIA bloc, led by Tejashwi Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). The INDIA bloc also includes the Congress party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (CPI-ML) led by Deepankar Bhattacharya, the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM), and Mukesh Sahani's Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP). Additionally, Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj has also staked claims on all 243 seats of the state. (ANI)