Nitish has his revenge, drafts in lone LJP MLA Raj Kumar Singh.

One Bihar politician who has hogged much of the political discussion in the state of late is Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief and two-time MP from Jamui, Chirag Paswan. For much of the latter part of last year he was a potential challenger to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the JD(U).

Paswan’s LJP did make a serious dent into the vote base of JD(U) and was primarily responsible for reducing the latter to third-largest party in the Assembly polls with 43 seats – behind RJD’s 75 and BJP’s 74 seats – but the party itself ended with a lone MLA.

On Tuesday, Nitish Kumar took his sweet revenge, when LJP’s single MLA – Raj Kumar Singh, who won from Matihani, Begusarai – joined JD(U). The LJP now has no member in either state Legislative Council or the Assembly. While Chirag was seen as fancying his chances of being a BJP ally at the expense of JD(U) before the Assembly polls, Nitish seems to have drawn levels with LJP.