Lalu wants to make his son successor, claims Madhepura MP

Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav was expelled from the party on Thursday for indulging in anti-party activities. “I was expelled from the party as Lalu Prasad wants to make his son his successor,” said Mr. Pappu Yadav.

He questioned why other leaders who were vocal against the proposed merger of the RJD into janata parivar and even worked against the party line in elections were not expelled.

Asked about his future strategy, Mr. Pappu Yadav told The Hindu that he would first go to his supporters and then take a decision. “Whatever my people ask me to do I’ll do,” he said.

Mr. Pappu Yadav, a five-time MP, had defeated Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll from Madhepura.

RJD principal general secretary Ramdeo Bhandari said Mr. Pappu Yadav had been expelled for six years. Mr. Pappu Yadav had also opposed the removal of Jitan Ram Manjhi as Chief Minister and garnered support for Mr. Manjhi during the trust vote. When the RJD announced his expulsion, he was sharing the dais with Mr. Manjhi in Begusarai district.

Sources close to him told The Hindu that along with Mr. Manjhi and the outside support of the BJP, Mr. Pappu Yadav was likely to chart out a “third alternative” for Bihar voters and will take on the janata parivar in the coming Assembly poll, due later this year.

“If Pappu Yadav wants to come along with us he is most welcome,” said Mr. Manjhi in Begusarai. The RJD MP, a popular leader of the Kosi area of north Bihar, is likely to hold a massive rally in his Madhepura constituency next week to showcase his political strength. Recently, he had a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Political observers say that with Mr. Prasad losing his caste support base after merging his party with janata parivar, Mr. Pappu Yadav has been pushing hard to fill the gap.

“He appears to have become successful in his political game plan and that caused heartburn among the RJD leadership which finally led to his expulsion,” said political commentator N.K. Chaudhury.

The JD(U) leadership has welcomed the decision to expel Mr. Pappu Yadav. “It’s a cleaning process both in the RJD and the JD(U) before both the parties merge with the janata parivar,” said JD(U) spokesperson K.C. Tyagi.