Bihar BJP's ex-vice president Rajib Ranjan returns to JD(U)

Patna: More than two weeks after being "sacked" by the BJP, its Bihar unit former vice president Rajib Ranjan rejoined the ruling JD(U) on Sunday and hailed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for accepting him to the party. Ranjan was welcomed by JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh and its state unit chief Umesh Kushwaha.

"It’s a homecoming for Rajib. We are happy that he has returned to his old party. Majority of the BJP leaders, who are connected with the people, hardly find themselves comfortable in the saffron camp," Singh told reporters here.

Ranjan, an outspoken leader, was earlier with Kumar's JD(U) and had represented the Islampur assembly segment for two consecutive terms until joining the BJP in 2015.

The Bihar BJP had on December 30 last year claimed that it has sacked Ranjan for indiscipline.

The saffron camp had shared a letter to the effect issued by state unit chief Sanjay Jaiswal, dated December 29, 2022 shortly after Ranjan claimed that he had "resigned" from the primary membership.

The veteran politician had said that he quit the BJP, as the saffron party in Bihar had "completely deviated from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policies and ideals".

After switching over to the JD(U), Ranjan told reporters that he is "thankful to the CM" for accepting him to the party.

JD(U)'s Lalan Singh also claimed that the "BJP has nothing to do with the people’s problems as its leaders are busy spreading religious hatred in the country".

He accused the BJP-led central government of "spreading communal poison in the country in a bid to divert attention from real issues" such as the price rise of essential commodities and unemployment.

Singh also criticised the Centre for the alleged failure of ‘Ujjwala Yojana’ stating that the "much-trumpeted scheme has flopped throughout the country".

'Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana' (PMUY) was introduced to make clean cooking fuel such as LPG available to the rural and deprived households which were otherwise using firewood, coal, cow-dung cakes etc.

"Reports suggest that beneficiaries are hardly refilling cylinders as the LPG price has gone up sharply. When the 'Ujjwala' scheme was launched in May 2016, the cost of an LPG cylinder was around Rs 400.

"Now, the cost stands at Rs 1200–three times more. The same is the case with the Ayushman Bharat programme of the central government. People hardly take benefits of this scheme,"JD(U) national president said.

BJP leaders could not be reached for their comments.