PATNA:All does not seem to be well between the Janata Dal (United) and the Bharatiya Janata Party, despite being alliance partners and contesting the Assembly elections together against the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in Bihar.
In 2015, Anuj Kumar Singh, who was the a JD(U) MLC, had joined the BJP, when the party had alligned with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) to contest the Assembly elections together.
On Tuesday, when the JD(U) gave its membership to Anuj Kumar Singh, former MLC and a BJP rebel, it send out a message on those lines. Singh was also made the vice president in JD-U, further intensifying murmurs.
A programme was held at the 1 Anne Marg, where Chief Minister Nitish Kumar himself gave the membership certificate in the presence of party's state Chief Vashishtha Narayan Singh and Cabinet Minister Ashok Chaudhary. The media coordinator of the JD(U), Nishant Singh, confirmed the development.
Singh wanted to contest the 2020 Assembly election from the Wazirganj seat in Gaya district on a BJP ticket. The BJP, however, gave the ticket to former MLA Virendra Singh. A miffed Singh went back to Nitish Kumar and was duly rewarded.
Anuj Singh is a native of the Naxal-hit Imamganj in Gaya district. Nitish Kumar has given him the responsibility to help former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is contesting election from Imamganj against Mahagathbandhan candidate Uday Narayan Chaudhary.