Former JD(U) MP Meena Singh Joins BJP

The BJP in Bihar on Sunday claimed to have received a shot in the arm with the induction of former JD(U) MP Meena Singh.

Singh, who had represented Arrah Lok Sabha seat from 2009 to 2014, joined the BJP along with her son Vishal in presence of state president Sanjay Jaiswal and Union minister Nityanand Rai, among others.

Both Jaiswal and Rai asserted that Singh's exit marked the JD(U)'s "terminal decline" and indicated that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the party's supremo, was "losing trust of his own people". The ex-MP had quit the JD(U) earlier this month, expressing anguish over Kumar aligning with arch rival Lalu Prasad’s RJD.

After joining the BJP, she said "I still have great respect for the chief minister but he seems to be  a man who did not take his own decisions anymore". Interestingly, her contention bore a striking similarity to the stance of Upendra Kushwaha, who last month quit the JD(U) to float a new party and is expected to join the NDA before Lok Sabha polls.

Meena Singh had made her electoral debut in 2007, in a by-poll necessitated by death of her husband Ajit Kumar Singh. She retained for the JD(U) Bikramganj, which was earlier represented by her husband and following the constituency's  abolition in 2008 delimitation, fought and won from Arrah a year later.

Incidentally, she lost the seat in 2014 to BJP's R K Singh, a retired IAS officer who is enjoying his second consecutive term from Arrah besides holding the crucial power portfolio in the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

Though Meena Singh is not seen as a political heavyweight, her induction could be seen as a part of the BJP's strategy to cement its hold over upper caste Rajputs.