Former Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav on Sunday announced the formation of a new political outfit, declaring that he would provide a “third alternative” for the voters of the state.
Just hours after the Central Election Commission announced that Assembly polls in Bihar could be held in September -October, Mr Yadav launched the Jankranti Adhikar Morcha. The MP who was expelled from the RJD for ‘anti-party’ activities, said: “I will decide on forming a new party after the core committee of the Jankranti Adhikar Morcha meets in a week or two. But, today Bihar needs a third alternative and we’ll try to provide it in the coming assembly elections.”Mr Yadav defeated JD(U) president Sharad Yadav from Madhepura in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. An influential yadav leader from the Kosi region in north-east Bihar, he had recently asked party chief Lalu Yadav to name him as his successor. However, Mr Lalu Yadav had declared that “only his son could become his successor.”
On the proposed alliance between the RJD and JD(U), Mr Pappu Yadav said both the party leaders —Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar — represented two divergent ideologies and they would “never meet like two shores of river”.
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After his daylong meeting with supporters and followers, the ousted RJD MP said should he float a new party, a majority of the seats would be allotted to candidates below 40 years. “It’s the youth of the state who will decide the future of Bihar,” he said.
Mr Pappu Yadav indicated that his group might ally with former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awami Morcha (HAM) and the Congress. “But, I’ll take a decision on it after two weeks”, he added.