All is not going well in the State unit of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Visible rifts have appeared in the party as office bearers and leaders have resorted to playing the blame game over petty issues.
Amidst allegations of State RJD Chief Gautam Sagar Rana promoting divisive policies some party workers removed his portrait from the main entrance of the party headquarters in Jharkhand. CCTV footage confirmed that the president of RJD’s youth wing, Abhay Singh was involved in removing Rana’s photograph from the wall.
RJD general secretary Kailash Yadav assured actions against Singh for his misdemeanor. However, Singh still continues to hold his position in the youth wing of the party and is yet to even get a show cause notice. This apparently has caused anger in the leaders who stand in support of Rana. A few days after the incident, some party leaders reportedly asked Rana to tender his resignation from the position of party chief.
The party had held State Working Committee meeting on May 28 to brainstorm over its humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha polls. During the meeting the issue of the removal of Rana’s portrait was raised and the party disciplinary committee asked Abhay Singh to give a justification for his actions. Singh, however, pleaded innocence.
“Several allegations have been leveled against me in the recent past. I was nowhere involved in removing the party president’s picture from the wall. I personally do not have any problem with him, but he seems to have developed some grudge against me,” said Singh.
Rana was appointed the party State chief after former RJD State president Annapurna Devi left the party and joined Bharatiya Janata Party prior to the general elections. The party fielded candidates for Palamu and Chatra constituencies in Jharkhand and had to face defeat in both the constituencies. The voters painted a similar picture in Bihar where the party could not win a single seat.
Rana said that the issue was raised during the working committee meeting and the disciplinary committee of the party is yet to take a decision on it. Meanwhile, party’s spokesperson Kailash Yadav rubbished the speculations about infighting in the party and held only a few leaders responsible for maligning the image of RJD.
“There is no question about the integrity of our party chief. Any person leveling allegations on him is only trying to indirectly malign the image of RJD,” said Yadav.