Rebel JD(U) MLA Rajiv Ranjan joins BJP

PATNA: In a boost for the BJP ahead of the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls, rebel JD(U) MLA Rajiv Ranjan joined the party today.

Ranjan, a disgruntled JD(U) legislator from Islampur constituency in Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's native district - Nalanda, joined the BJP at a function in the party office which was attended by state unit president Mangal Pandey was present.

Inducting the rebel JD(U) MLA in the BJP family, Pandey said that Ranjan's influence among the voters in his native district, will boost the NDA's electoral prospects at the hustings.

Speaking on the occasion, Ranjan charged the Chief Minister with reneging on his promise to never join forces with the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and said that he was left with no other option but to quit the party to join the BJP by reposing faith in its ideology and leadership of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A former chairman of Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand electricity boards, Ranjan was drafted into the JD(U) by the Chief Minister ahead of 2010 assembly polls.

Before joining the BJP, he worked as a close aide of the former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi.