Khagaria (Bihar) [India], July 26 : Former Lok Janashakti Party (Ram-Vilas) leader Shivraj Yadav on Saturday announced that 38 leaders of the LJP have resigned from the party in Khagaria district, adding that the rebel faction will soon form a party of its own in the poll-bound Bihar.
Speaking to ANI, Yadav said, "All workers from the Khagaria district have resigned. 38 leaders have resigned. Workers, including block presidents, panchayat presidents, have all resigned. The entire district committee has stepped down. So, Khagaria is now a zero. Now we are rebuilding from the ground up. We are forming a rebel Lok Janshakti Party."
Yadav, who was LJP's Khagaria district president, recalled the efforts he put in for Chirag Paswan's party.
"I stood by the party when everything had collapsed. People had forgotten about the Lok Janshakti Party. The name itself had vanished. Chirag ji was stuck in Khagaria and Begusarai. He was stranded in Begusarai for two days. In Khagaria, no one was there to even mention his name. At that moment, only I stood up," Shivraj Yadav said.
Shivraj Yadav accused Khagaria Lok Sabha MP Rajesh Verma of "arrogance" and "abuse of power".
"That trust was betrayed. A huge betrayal. The party betrayed me. Its leaders betrayed me. The local MP betrayed me. Even the MP insults and abuses the Paswans. The party workers here, 80 per cent of our committee, are made up of Paswans. The local MP, Rajesh Varma, abuses them all," he said.
Earlier, Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) founder Mukesh Sahani vowed to "seek revenge" against his former alliance partner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Bihar assembly elections, alleging that he was cheated after the party "poached" his MLAs and threw him out of the alliance.
"I will definitely seek revenge. We were servants for so long, we worked hard in the state to get elected and worked for our people by staying in the government. We had 4 leaders and were doing the work of the people, so they (BJP) poached our MLAs and threw us out of the government we formed. This is not right in a democracy," the VIP founder told reporters in Patna.
In the current 243-member Bihar Assembly, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) holds 131 seats: the BJP (80), JD(U) (45), HAM(S) (4), and support from 2 independents. The Opposition India Bloc holds 111 seats, comprising RJD (77), Congress (19), CPI(ML) (11), CPI(M) (2), and CPI (2).
The elections are expected to be held later this year, in October or November; however, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not announced an official date.