Bihar Election 2025: RJD Suffers Blow as Star Campaigner Joins BJP Ahead of Polls

RJD has suffered a major blow before the Bihar Election 2025. The party's star campaigner and former MP, Dr. Anil Kumar Sahani, left the party on Wednesday and joined the BJP.

A major setback was dealt to Lalu and Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday, just before voting in the Bihar elections. Anil Sahani, an RJD star campaigner and former MLA from the Kurhani assembly seat, has broken ties with the RJD and joined the BJP. Anil Sahani was previously with the JDU before joining the RJD. He had become a Rajya Sabha member on a JDU ticket. While he was a Rajya Sabha MP, he was accused of illegally selling air tickets and faced a case for the LTC scam. Following this, he left the JDU and joined the RJD. RJD sources indicate that Anil Sahani was seeking a ticket from Kurhani for his son. However, upon not receiving the ticket, he became disgruntled and left the party to join the BJP.

Disgruntled Over Son Not Getting Ticket

Anil Kumar Sahani, on an RJD ticket, had won the 2020 assembly elections from the Kurhani assembly seat, defeating BJP's Kedar Prasad Gupta in a close contest. Anil Sahani lost his MLA status due to a two-year sentence in the LTC scam. The Delhi High Court had also barred Sahani from contesting elections for three years. The Kurhani assembly seat became vacant due to Anil Sahani's imprisonment. In the Kurhani assembly by-election held in 2022, BJP's Kedar Prasad had won. However, this time, a rebel from the BJP was causing him trouble.

Announced Information Himself Via Post

After leaving the RJD, Anil Sahani accused the top leadership of insulting the extremely backward class. He shared the news of his resignation himself on his social media platform, Facebook. In this post, he shared his resignation letter and photos with Mangal Lal Mandal. In the caption of this post, Sahani wrote, 'Today I have resigned from the post of RJD's star campaigner, all positions, and primary membership of the party.' Sahani wanted to secure a ticket from the Kurhani seat for his son. However, this time the RJD has nominated Bablu Kushwaha as the party's candidate from Kurhani. Although Anil Sahani's name was also included in the list of the party's 40 star campaigners.

Accepted BJP Membership

Anil Sahani was inducted into the BJP at a joining ceremony organised at the BJP's Patna media centre on Wednesday. Former MLA Asha Devi also joined the BJP along with him. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is also the party's state election in-charge, and other senior leaders were present on the occasion.