Big jolt to Bihar BJP: Prominent OBC leader Mishrilal Yadav resigns ahead of polls

In a major setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar ahead of the assembly elections, MLA Mishrilal Yadav resigned from the party on Saturday, citing “humiliation”.

 

Yadav, who represents Alinagar constituency in Darbhanga district, is a prominent leader from the Other Backwards Classes (OBC).

 

“We felt humiliated while in the BJP. We were tortured within the party, and our self-respect was not protected,” Yadav said at a press conference in Patna. He also alleged that Dalits and other backward communities were not getting their due in the organisation.

 

“I won the 2020 election from a seat where no NDA MLA had won in the past 30 years, yet the party still refused to respect me,” he said. Yadav had contested the elections on a ticket of Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP).

 

All four MLAs of the VIP, including Yadav, joined the BJP after the regional party ceased to be an NDA constituent in 2022 when its founder Mukesh Sahni was expelled from the Nitish Kumar cabinet at BJP's instance.

 

In Alinagar, a constituency dominated by Brahmin, Yadav and Muslim voters, Yadav polled 61,082 votes in the 2020 elections while his rival RJD’s Binod Mishra came second with 57,98 votes.

 

Yadav did not divulge his future plans, but, according to reports, he is understood to be in touch with the opposition INDIA bloc, helmed by the RJD.

 

“I am a secular-minded person, so I may join a secular party. But for now, I can say I will contest the Alinagar seat and win again,” he said.

 

Yadav also indicated that his son, who has served as a district head for the past decade, may contest the upcoming elections, though he did not specify under which party’s banner.

 

The two-phase Bihar assembly elections will be held on November 6 and 11, while the counting of votes will take place on November 14.

India