Sitting Pirpainti MLA Lalan Kumar joins RJD, quits BJP day before polls

Patna (Bihar) [India], November 5 (ANI): Lalan Kumar, sitting Pirpainti MLA from Bihar, on Wednesday joined Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in the run-up to the assembly elections, scheduled to be held in two phases on November 6 and 11.
Lalan Kumar was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from the Pirpainti assembly constituency, which is a reserved SC seat in the Bhagalpur district of Bihar.
With just a day left for the first phase of the Bihar assembly polls, Kumar's exit from the party comes as a major setback for the BJP. Kumar had secured a victory on the BJP ticket in the 2020 assembly elections.
He remained upset with the BJP because the party had not given him a ticket this time. The BJP has fielded Murari Paswan from the Pirpainti assembly constituency.
Kumar met Bihar Leader of Opposition (LoP) Tejashwi Yadav and former Chief Minister Rabri Devi after joining the opposition RJD.
On his Facebook page, Lalan Kumar wrote, "May the caravan of the Rashtriya Janata Dal continue to grow. From today, I too have joined it. We have to make Bihar a state dedicated to Tejashwi. We have all resolved to do this together. Tejashwi is the present, Tejashwi is the future. Jai Bhim."
RJD posted on X, "Due to the BJP's lobbying, current MLA Shri Lalan Paswan left the BJP today and joined the RJD family."
In Pirpainti, the contest in between BJP's Murari Paswan and RJD's Ram Vilash Paswan. Meanwhile, the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) has fielded Ghanshyam Das.
The first phase of voting in Bihar will take place on November 6, covering 121 assembly seats.
The remaining 122 constituencies will vote in the second phase on November 11.
The 2025 Bihar Elections will have the main contest between the National Democratic Alliance and the Mahagathbandhan.
The NDA comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party, Janata Dal (United), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), and Rashtriya Lok Morcha.
The Mahagathbandhan led by Rashtriya Janata Dal 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)