With politicians in poll-bound Bihar busy quitting their parent parties to join other promising parties, all the leading parties in the state have undergone a curious assortment in their upper and middle ranks, mostly in the past two months, requiring voters to be more observant as the polls begin two weeks later.
The party-hopping spree gained momentum as tickets started getting allotted by various parties and many politicians and their relatives aspiring to bag a ticket to contest the Assembly polls were disappointed. The long list of party-hoppers in Bihar has both well-known figures, whose sudden change of allegiance shocked many, and scores of less known names who had been pillars of their parent parties in various parts across the state.
On Thursday, two backward caste leaders and former academicians — Dr Bhagwan Lal Sahni and Dr Shital Ram — quit the RJD to join the ruling JD(U) in presence of chief minister Nitish Kumar while a former Congress MP, Ram Shreshth Khirhar had joined the RJD in presence of RJD boss Lalu Prasad Yadav a day before. It is the search for greener pastures and the perceived prospects of various parties that drives the politicians to change parties, said analysts.
Many turncoats have also been awarded with tickets to contest the Assembly polls by all the leading parties. Many RJD and JD(U) leaders, who quit to join the Congress, have bagged tickets from the national party. They include sitting RJD legislators Anil Kumar, from Bhore (reserved) seat in Gopalganj, Babloo Deo from Kesaria, former JD(U) minister Jamshed Ashraf and sitting JD(U) MP Purnamasi Ram’s son Sanjay.