In yet another jolt for the Bharatiya Janata Party, senior party leader Usha Vidyarthi on Wednesday joined the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) just ahead of the Assembly elections in Bihar. Usha joined the LJP in the presence of LJP chief Chirag Paswan in New Delhi.
Usha hailed the leadership of Chirag Paswan, saying, "To take Bihar forward some strong decision needs to b taken. Bihar first, Bihari fist is a thought."
The LJP is likely to be field her from the Paliganj assembly seat where the JD(U) will contest as well.
According to reports, Chirag himself had rooted to bring Usha Vidyarthi to the party fold. Vidyarthi, a former MLA, joined the LJP a day after BJP's Bihar unit vice president Rajendra Singh joined the LJP. Singh was in 2015 one of the strongest candidates for the chief ministerial post when JD(U) was not a constituent of the NDA and the BJP had contested elections in an agreement with the LJP.
This year, the LJP is contesting elections solo. The party has said that it will not field candidates against the BJP. It has vowed to put up candidates on 122 seats from where Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) is contesting elections.
Elections to the 243 Assembly seats in Bihar will be held in three phases -- October 28, November 3, and November 7. Results will be declared on November 10.
