RJD sacks ex-MLA who fielded wife as rebel candidate in MLC election

The Rashtriya Janata Dal on Thursday sacked its senior Bihar leader Gulab Yadav, who has fielded his wife as a rebel candidate in the upcoming state legislative council elections. In a letter issued by party’s national general secretary Bhola Yadav, it has been said that Yadav is being expelled for six years in light of the recommendations of state president Jagdanand Singh and principal national general secretary Abdul Bari Siddiqui.

Gulab Yadav had announced a few weeks ago that his wife Ambika would contest from Madhubani as an independent, accusing RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and successor Tejashwi Yadav of betrayal. Yadav had claimed that the party had given ticket to a weaker candidate, Meraj Alam, as part of an agreement with the NDA, after assuring him that he would be considered for Madhubani, which is scheduled to go to polls on 24 seats.

The seat was earlier held by BJP’s Santosh Kumar, whose term ended in July last year. The elections for 24 seats in the constituencies of local officials were postponed due to the delay in the panchayat elections, which was caused by the COVID spurt. As per the schedule announced by the Election Commission, the nominations will begin on March 9 and voting will take place on April 4, followed by the counting of votes three days later.