The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Wednesday expelled ten of its leaders for alleged anti-party activities, escalating internal tensions as Bihar heads into assembly elections. The list of ousted members includes a sitting MLA who has chosen to contest as an independent after being denied a ticket.
According to a statement from state president Mangani Lal Mandal, the party’s sitting Dehri MLA, Fateh Bahadur Singh, has been removed for running against the officially nominated RJD candidate. The expulsions also name former MLAs Mohammad Gulam Jilani Warsi (Kanti) and Mohammad Riazul Haq Raju (Gopalganj) among those expelled.
Other leaders penalised include: state vice-president Satish Kumar (Nalanda); Mohammad Syed Noushadul Navi, also known as Pappu Khan (Bihar Sharif); state secretary Amod Kumar Mandal (Purnia); active member Virendra Kumar Sharma (Singheshwar); E. Pranav Prakash (Madhepura); women’s wing general secretary Jipsa Anand (Bhojpur); and active Bhojpur member Rajiv Ranjan alias Pinku. Party officials said these members were found involved in activities contrary to party discipline and strategy.
This wave of expulsions follows a larger action taken two days earlier, when RJD suspended 27 leaders — including two sitting MLAs and five former MLAs. Party sources framed the new removals as necessary to preserve organisational unity and electoral focus, while critics argue such steps reflect deeper factionalism as candidates and local influencers jockey for tickets.
The development drew immediate political commentary. Amit Malviya, head of the BJP’s IT cell, shared the expulsion list on the platform X and quipped that at this pace the RJD risks emptying itself of both workers and voters — a swipe likely intended to underscore claims of the opposition’s internal disarray.
For RJD, the expulsions carry immediate electoral implications in tightly contested seats where rebel candidates or sidelined leaders can split votes. With Bihar’s political contest already highly competitive, disciplined candidate selection is crucial; yet heavy-handed purges can also alienate local cadres and erode grassroots mobilisation.
As campaigning intensifies, the RJD faces the twin challenge of enforcing party discipline and maintaining local support networks. How the party manages defections, independent candidacies and internal grievances in the coming days may have a direct impact on its performance at the hustings and the broader arithmetic of Bihar politics.