Nitish Kumar welcomes RJD chief's support in Rajya Sabha bye-elections

Former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on Wednesday welcomed Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav extending support to Janata Dal United (JD-U) candidates in the Rajya Sabha bye elections in the state.

"I welcome RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's declaration of lending support to our candidates. We had appealed him for his support in view of foiling BJP's gameplan in the Rajya Sabha bye-lections," Kumar said.

"I am glad that RJD has decided to extend support to JDU candidates and so did CPI,I thank RJD and CPI," the former Bihar chief minister added.

Earlier, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, on Wednesday declared his party's support to the Janata Dal United (JD-U) candidates who are in the fray for the Rajya Sabha bye-elections.

The JD(U) needs support from the RJD MLAs to avoid embarrassment in the bypolls which is scheduled to be held on June 19th. The JD-U is in a sticky situation as some of its own MLAs have shown defiance against the leadership and could cross vote in the Rajya Sabha bye-polls.

The JD-U has fielded Sharad Yadav, Pawan Verma and Ghulam Rasool for the three Rajya Sabha seats. Meanwhile, rebel JD-U leader Sabir Ali along with Anil Kumar Sharma and Dilip Jaiswal are in the fray as independent candidates.