PATNA: Lalu Prasad’s RJD on Thursday announced its new national executive committee with his wife and former CM Rabri Devi retaining the post of vice president, along with former union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Shivanand Tiwari.

Besides the three vice-presidents, the party’s new national team has seven general secretaries, one secretary general, one treasurer, six secretaries and other 46 leaders in the executive committee.

The announcement of new team comes three months after incarcerated Lalu Prasad was re-elected as the party’s national president for the 11th consecutive term in December last year.

Prasad is currently serving sentences in fodder scam cases at Ranchi. He has been the party president since its inception in 1997.

The party’s MLC Mohammad Qamar Alam continues as national secretary general. The party’s Rajya Sabha member Ahmed Ashfaq Karim has been appointed as treasurer.

Former union minister Kanti Singh, former MP Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav and Lalu’s close confidant Bhola Yadav (MLA), Lalit Yadav and former minister Vidya Sagar Nishad are among the seven national general secretaries.

Lalu’s both sons — Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav — and eldest daughter Misa Bharti have found place in the national executive team. The party’s Rajya Sabha members Prem Chandra Gupta and Manoj Jha, Bihar’s former finance minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui , former state unit chief Ram Chandra Purbe, convicted former MP Md Shahabuddin’s wife Hena Shahab, former Rajya Sabha member Rajniti Prasad, former minister Shiv Chandra Ram and party’s Madhubani MLA Samir Kumar Mahaseth too have found place in the national executive.

Former Bihar speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary and former minister Ramai Ram, both of whom had contested the 2015 assembly polls as JD(U) candidates but later switched to the RJD, have also been included in Lalu’s new national executive.

Reacting over the RJD’s new team, BJP senior and deputy SM Sushil Kumar Modi said Lalu Prasad’s party has once again proved that its slogan of social justice was limited to only two communities. “Around 75% leaders in the RJD’s new national executive committee belong to only two communities. Leaders of extremely backward caste and dalit community have got less representation,” Modi said.

