Lalu's former aide Ram Kripal meets Rajnath, set to join BJP

Rebel RJD leader Ram Kripal Yadav, a former close aide of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, today met top BJP leaders here and is set to join the party tomorrow.
Ram Kripal met BJP President Rajnath Singh and party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad at the Delhi airport, triggering speculation that he would soon join the BJP.
Prasad said he had met the RJD leader who will join BJP tomorrow. "He will join the party tomorrow at 12 noon," he said.
On his part, Ram Kripal remained non-committal and said he would comment on the developments only tomorrow.
"I have met Rajnathji today. We had a good meeting. I will comment on the rest of the issues tomorrow," Yadav told reporters when asked what will be his strategy and whether he was being given the Pataliputra ticket from Bihar by the BJP.

What remains to be seen is whether the BJP agrees to accommodate Yadav in the Pataliputra Lok Sabha seat of Bihar, a seat yoga guru Ramdev is said to have sought for one of his own aides.

Refusing to confirm if Yadav would contest from Pataliputra, Prasad said the decision will be taken by the Central Election Committee of the party.
RJD chief's wife, Rabri Dev, said if Ram Kripal opts out of the party, "It will not affect us." Misa, who refers to Ram Kripal as 'chacha' (uncle) or father's younger brother, said, "It's not a fight between an uncle and niece. It's a fight between ideologies."

Ram Kripal had resigned from all party posts of the RJD after Lalu Prasad ignored his claim over Pataliputra ticket to field his daughter Misa Bharti from there.
Ram Kripal has been saying that he has not yet quit the RJD and had only resigned from party positions.
He has refused to give up his claim for the Pataliputra seat even after Misa Bharti approached him in a bid to placate him.
Ram Kripal's closeness to the BJP is being attributed to LJP President Ram Vilas Paswan, who is said to have played a key role in building bridges between him and the BJP.

Paswan himself junked a long standing alliance with the RJD in Bihar recently to strike a pre-poll deal with the BJP in Bihar which has 40 Lok Sabha seats.