BJP may play tricks; JD(U) on track to become national party: Lalan on Manipur defections

JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan alleged that the BJP did in Manipur what it had "previously attempted in Delhi, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra".

A day after most of its MLAs in Manipur joined the BJP, the JD(U) on September 3 lashed out at its former ally whom it accused of using " dhan bal" (money power) to poach legislators from other parties.

JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan alleged that the BJP did in Manipur what it had "previously attempted in Delhi, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra".

"Our MLAs in Manipur had defeated BJP candidates at the hustings. Ditto in Arunachal Pradesh where our MLAs were poached while we were still in NDA," fumed Lalan.

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The development comes as an embarrassment for the party which is holding its national executive meeting in Patna and trying to project Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, its de facto leader, for a bigger role.

"Whatever tricks the BJP may play, it will not be able to stop JD(U) from becoming a national party by 2023," asserted Lalan, who has been associated with Nitish Kumar for nearly four decades.