Bihar’s veteran and Dalit leader Shyam Rajak (70 years) has once again left the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He was the national general secretary of RJD. On Thursday, he resigned from the post and the party. He has left RJD for the second time and has also given the reason for leaving the party. Rajak has expressed his pain through poetry. It is believed that Shyam Rajak may now join JDU for the second time.
Shyam Rajak has been an MLA six times and is considered to have considerable influence in the Phulwari area. In his resignation letter to RJD President Lalu Prasad, Shyam Rajak said, I am resigning from the post of National General Secretary of the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the primary membership of the party. In the end he wrote a poem, I was not fond of chess, so I got cheated. You were moving the pawns, I was maintaining relations.
Will Shyam Rajak return to JDU?
Later, while talking to journalists, Rajak said that he has become disillusioned with RJD. He also openly praised the vision and leadership of Bihar Chief Minister and JDU supremo Nitish Kumar. However, he did not say anything about his next strategy. It is believed that Rajak will return to JDU. He was a part of JDU till 2020. He returned to RJD just before the 2020 assembly elections.
RJD did not give ticket in 2020
However, he faced his first setback in the assembly elections when RJD refused to give him a ticket from his traditional seat Phulwari. RJD gave this seat to its alliance partner CPI(ML)L and it won from there.
did not express confidence even in Lok Sabha elections
Shyam Rajak has suffered another big setback in the Lok Sabha elections while being in RJD. In the recent Lok Sabha elections, he wanted to contest from Samastipur or Jamui. He had also expressed his intentions, but the party did not field him again.
Why was Shyam Rajak angry with RJD
According to the information, Rajak was angry with the RJD leadership for a long time. But this anger increased especially when he was not considered for a ticket in the Legislative Council in 2022. That is, he did not get a chance to contest the first assembly elections and the other way to enter the House (Legislative Council) was also closed. After that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections came and the party ignored him again. RJD decided to field Archana Ravidas from Jamui. In such a situation, Rajak was left with the option of contesting from Samastipur (reserved seat), but this seat was also given to the alliance partner Congress. Since then, he was working on a strategy to leave the party soon.
Rajak was once considered very close to Lalu Yadav. However, after the rise of Lalu’s son and former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, he was marginalized in RJD. RJD sources say that Rajak was angry for a long time.
Ram-Shyam duo was famous in Bihar politics
In Bihar politics, when Lalu Prasad Yadav used to personally look after the work of the government and the organization, the Ram-Shyam duo was considered to be dominant. Ram Kripal Yadav and Shyam Rajak were called Lalu’s left and right hand. This duo, known as Ram and Shyam, was so much in the news in the political corridors that both the leaders were considered capable of getting any of their demands fulfilled from the party high command. However, with time, circumstances changed and first of all Ram i.e. Ramkripal Yadav exited RJD and joined BJP. After that, now the second such opportunity came, when Shyam Rajak also had to leave RJD. The main reason for this is believed to be that even though Lalu Yadav is the party supremo, all the decisions related to the organization are being taken by his son Tejashwi Yadav and Lalu’s close and old trusted associates are not getting along. The old leaders are feeling uncomfortable in the party today and are not able to arrange tickets for themselves. In such a situation, there is no other option left for them except exiting or waiting for an opportunity.
The same thing happened in the case of Shyam Rajak. His role under Tejashwi’s leadership was very limited. He felt marginalised and decided to leave the party.
Rajak was a minister in the Rabri government
Shyam Rajak won his first assembly election from Phulwari in 1995. After that he won the election from there four times in a row. This seat is reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC). Rajak also served as Power Minister in the government led by RJD chief’s wife Rabri Devi.
Rajak was a minister twice in the Nitish government
It is said about Rajak that he was vocal against Nitish Kumar in his political beginnings. However, later he joined Nitish’s camp. After joining JDU, he again won from Phulwari in the 2010 elections and was included in the Nitish cabinet. Rajak was then made the Minister of Food Processing and Consumer Protection.
Rajak retained the Phulwari seat in the 2015 assembly elections and was made the Industry Minister in the Nitish government. However, in August 2020, he had differences with Nitish and joined RJD again.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)