Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad’s brother-in-law Anirudh Prasad alias Sadhu Yadav has joined Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and will contest as party’s nominee on Maharajganj Lok Sabha seat.
Sadhu Yadav, a former RJD MP from Gopalganj, was known for his strong arm tactics during the past RJD rule in the state. He was considered a power centre when Rabri Devi was made chief minister when Lalu Prasad was in jail in 1997 in fodder scam case.
Sadhu and his brother Subhash were referred as S2 during the Lalu-Rabri rule, often termed as jungle-raj, and their names had become synonymous with hooliganism. The duo had assumed pivotal political roles. The rise of Lalu saw an enormous rise in criminal activities in the state too. It is alleged that the most notorious criminal activities were organised and carried out by his brother-in-laws Sadhu and Subhash Yadav.
Once considered the ‘muscle’ behind the political strength of Lalu, Sadhu parted ways with RJD after he was not given nomination for Bettiah Lok Sabha constituency in general election in 2009. Filmmaker Prakash Jha had been given the ticket from Bettiah following a seat sharing deal between RJD and Lok Janshakti Party which Sadhu wanted to contest himself.
Two days after leaving the RJD, in March 2009, Sadhu joined the Congress party and unsuccessfully contested the Bettiah Lok Sabha constituency.
He had also tried to gain entry into the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) by meeting Narendra Modi but the state unit of the saffron party shut the door on Lalu Prasad’s controversial brother-in-law saying “BJP has no place for such elements in the party.”
The Maharajganj Lok Sabha constituency is represented by Janardan Singh Sigriwal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Sigriwal had defeated Prabhunath Singh of the RJD by more than 38,000 votes.
The parliamentary constituency of Maharajganj will go to polls on May 12, when the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections 2019 is scheduled.
The voting for Bihar’s 40 Parliamentary seats will take place in seven phases beginning April 11. The last phase will be held on May 19.
