PATNA: In a major setback to the Congress ahead of the state assembly election, six-time MLA and Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) working president Dr Ashok Kumar(Ram) resigned from the party and joined Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) at a function held in Patna on Sunday.
Ram, an influential Dalit leader from the Darbhanga region, was inducted into the JD(U) by the party’s working president Sanjay Kumar Jha in the presence of senior leaders, including Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary and state president Umesh Kushwaha.
Ashok’s son Atirek, along with several supporters, also joined JD(U).
Speaking on the occasion, Sanjay Jha said the JD(U) would welcome all leaders who wanted to strengthen the hands of Chief Minister and JD(U) national president Nitish Kumar in the upcoming assembly elections. “Several other leaders of the opposition Grand Alliance are in touch with us,” he claimed.
JD(U) state president Umesh Kushwaha also welcomed Ram into the party and expressed confidence that his joining would ensure the ruling alliance's victory in the upcoming assembly election, due in October-November this year. “Ram decided to join JD(U) after being influenced by the party’s policies and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s leadership,” he added.
Expressing his views on the occasion, Ram said he would fully support Nitish Kumar in becoming the chief minister for another term. “We will work hard to strengthen the hands of Nitish ji, who is the saviour of the Dalits in the true sense,” he told the media after joining JD(U).
“Today is a significant day for me in my political career,” he remarked.
Ram’s resignation is expected to impact Congress’s prospects in the upcoming state assembly elections. He had earlier served as leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the state assembly and as a minister in the Rabri Devi cabinet.
He hails from Kusheshwarsthan in Darbhanga district. His father, Baleshwar Ram, was a former minister and Congress MP.
Sources said Ashok was feeling sidelined by the party leadership after the appointment of Dalit MLA Rajesh Kumar as state president. He also reportedly did not share a good rapport with the AICC in-charge for Bihar, Krishna Allavaru.