Senior RJD leader quits party posts

Senior RJD leader Ram Kirpal Yadav announced Saturday that he was resigning from all party posts after being denied a ticket for the Lok Sabha polls.

Yadav told the media in New Delhi that he was in the Rashtriya Janata Dal "as of now", but leaders close to him said he might resign from the primary membership of the party soon.

"Ram Kirpal Singh has made up his mind to resign from the party and is likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party to contest against Lalu's daughter in polls," a RJD leader said.

A furious Yadav had flown to New Delhi after the RJD chief nominated his own daughter, Misa Bharti, as the candidate from Patliputra in Patna, ignoring the claims of Yadav who has been close to Lalu Prasad for over two decades.

Yadav accused the party, which he said was born to uphold the principles of social justice, of now being interested in "family justice".

Within an hour of Yadav's media announcement, Lalu Prasad's elder daughter Bharti announced in Patna that she will contest from Patliputra.

"I want to make it clear that I will be the RJD candidate from Patliputra and I will contest the polls," she told a press conference.

She was in Delhi Friday and said she was deeply hurt as her "uncle" did not meet her even after she waited for him for five hours and later termed her visit as "emotional blackmail".

"I never expected such words from chacha (uncle)," she said.

Lalu Prasad had earlier hinted that he would not go back on his decision.

On Thursday, Lalu Prasad announced the names of candidates for 25 of the 27 constituencies his party will contest in alliance with the Congress in Bihar.

According to the list, his daughter Misa Bharti will be the RJD nominee in Patliputra in Patna and wife Rabri Devi in Saran.