Bihar: Former Minister Shyam Rajak Quits RJD, Says He Was Feeling 'Cheated'

In a setback to the RJD in Bihar, its national general secretary Shyam Rajak resigned on Thursday, claiming that he felt “cheated” in the party he had joined four years ago. A former state minister and one of the most prominent Dalit leaders in the party, he wrote a terse letter to party president Lalu Prasad, declaring that he was giving up the top post as well as the primary membership.

He signed off with a cryptic Hindi verse, which could be roughly translated as: “I was not fond of a game of chess, hence got cheated. You kept planning your moves, I kept caring about our relationship.”

Party spokesperson Shakti Yadav lashed out at Rajak, who was inducted into the party ahead of the 2020 assembly elections, after being sacked from the Nitish Kumar cabinet and expelled from the JD(U). “It is Shyam Rajak who likes to play a game of chess, while our leaders Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Yadav speak and act from the heart. He came back to RJD when he was in political wilderness. But, then, he has been known to be a party hopper,” he said.

Rajak had also served as a minister in the government headed by the RJD supremo’s wife Rabri Devi, but he quit the party in 2009 to join the JD(U) that had by then risen to power. When approached with queries, he said he took the decision following the “advice of supporters” in the Phulwari Sharif assembly constituency that he has represented many times, but had to give up in 2020 when the seat went to RJD ally CPI(ML)L.

Known to have been upset over the RJD’s failure to consider him for a berth in the legislative council, he said he will reveal his cards “in a week”. “I am left with two alternatives, to join another party or to retire from politics,” said the 70-year-old, who asserted that he maintained “good relations” with leaders of all political hues, a trait he had picked up from former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar, “my political guru”.

Replying to a query, he said: “I still believe Nitish Kumar is a man with vision, who works and allows his peers to work freely. If Bihar is now treated with respect and no more seen as an object of ridicule, the credit must go to him.”