Bihar MP Pappu Yadav set to announce new party

New Delhi, Jun 8: Expelled RJD MP Pappu Yadav is set to announce formation of a new political party tomorrow in his attempt to emerge as a third force in Bihar Assembly polls where BJP and Lalu-Nitish combine seem locked in a straight fight.

Yadav said he will turn 'Jan Kranti Adhikar Morcha', an outfit he had floated recently, into a political party and may give it a new name. "We will be third force in Bihar. The state needs neither casteism nor communalism," he said, criticising BJP and the RJD-JD(U) alliance.

Yadav is likely to be patron of the new outfit, a move aimed to avoid his disqualification as an MP since he was elected on the RJD symbol.

Yadav turned into a bitter critic of RJD president Lalu Prasad over his support to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and was seen to be veering towards supporting BJP before he decided to fight on his own.

The Madhepura MP was expelled from RJD last month. His wife Ranjeen Ranjan is a Lok Sabha MP from Congress.

The five-time MP enjoys clout in parts of Bihar and can play a spoilsport, especially for RJD-JD(U) alliance, in the elections.

PTI