PATNA: In a major setback to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the party's former spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday and claimed he was feeling "suffocated" in his former party.
Tiwari's induction ahead of the Bankipur Assembly bypoll is being seen as significant as Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor, who is also in the electoral fray, is a Brahmin.
He was inducted into the BJP by state president Sanjay Saraogi in the presence of former Bihar minister Mangal Pandey.
Tiwari had long been one of the RJD's leading spokespersons and its prominent Brahmin face. As party spokesperson, he consistently represented the RJD's position in the media and on other public platforms.
After joining the BJP, Tiwari launched a sharp attack on his former party. He said he was grateful to the BJP leadership and would faithfully uphold the trust and respect the party had shown him.
Speaking at the Milan Samaroh organised at the state BJP headquarters, Tiwari said, "I express my gratitude to BJP. I will fulfill with complete honesty the trust the party has placed in me. Every single drop of my blood will remain dedicated to the BJP."
Tiwari said that throughout his political career, he had maintained good relations with leaders of all parties, but did not receive the respect he deserved in the RJD, prompting him to quit.
"A worker like me was not respected in the RJD, so I left the party," he said.
He also alleged that the RJD had strayed from its ideology and policies.
"RJD is heading toward its end. There is no clear policy left there anymore. It is now trapped in a quagmire from which it is difficult to escape," he claimed.