Day before Bihar's phase 1 voting, Jan Suraaj Party's Munger candidate defects to join BJP
After joining the party, Sanjay Singh extended his support to NDA nominee Kumar Pranay, the BJP candidate from the seat.
The Prashant Kishore-led Jan Suraaj Party was left red-faced on Wednesday when one of its candidates defected to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), just a day ahead of the first phase of polling in the 2025 Bihar assembly election.
Sanjay Singh, the JSP candidate from Bihar's Munger Assembly seat, joined the BJP. The seat will see polls on Thursday, November 6.
After joining the party, Sanjay Singh extended his support to NDA nominee Kumar Pranay, the BJP candidate from the seat. He also heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.
"Bihar has witnessed tremendous growth under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. I am confident that the state will continue to develop further under the NDA rule," Singh told reporters after joining the saffron party.
He expressed confidence that the NDA would win the polls in Bihar with a huge margin.
Senior Jan Suraaj leaders are yet to comment on their candidate jumping ship just hours ahead of the start of polling.
Meanwhile, Sanjay Singh is not the only one who has changed the fold ahead of the election. BJP’s own sitting MLA from Pirpainti, Lalan Paswan, joined the RJD after being denied a party ticket, PTI reported, quoting sources.
The assembly elections in the state are scheduled to be held on November 6 and 11, while the results will be declared on November 14.
Jan Suraaj supporter's death in Mokama
A Jan Suraaj worker, allegedly shot dead inside his vehicle during a campaign trail in Bihar's Patna district, last Thursday, created a huge fallout for JD(U) candidate Anant Singh.
The victim, identified as Dularchand Yadav, was shot dead in the Mokama area of the Bihar capital after a reported firing between the two sides while campaigning for elections.
Singh was arrested three days later by Patna Police in connection with the murder case, along with two associates, Manikant Thakur and Ranjeet Ram.
“It was found that all this happened in the presence of the candidate, Anant Singh, who is also the main accused in the case. Anant Singh has been arrested. His accomplices, Manikant Thakur and Ranjeet Ram, have also been arrested with him,” Patna SSP Kartikeya Sharma said.
