Dalit leader Shyam Rajak quits RJD, says was ‘cheated’; likely to rejoin JD(U)

Senior leader and national general secretary of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Shyam Rajak resigned from his post and the party on Thursday (August 22, 2024). The former Cabinet Minister, who was earlier with the Janata Dal (United), sent the resignation letter to RJD chief Lalu Prasad in which he wrote that he was “cheated”.

Mr. Rajak is likely to return to the JD(U). Party insiders said that before tendering his resignation, he spoke to JD(U) national president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Mr. Rajak posted his resignation on X and faxed it to Mr. Lalu. He also wrote a verse in Hindi which said, “I was not fond of playing chess hence got cheated. You kept playing your moves, I kept caring about our relationship.”

In August 2020, the Dalit leader was expelled from the JD(U) due to anti-party activities while serving as the Industry Minister of Bihar. Later, he had issued a statement that he had resigned. On August 18, 2020, he joined the RJD in the presence of Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav.

However, he did not benefit from the move and in the 2020 Assembly election, the Phulwarisharif (reserved) seat, which he represented several times, went to RJD ally Communist Party of Indian (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, he was eager to contest from the Samastipur (reserved) seat, but the seat went to the Congress. In the 2025 Assembly election, the Phulwarisharif seat is likely to be given to the CPI(ML), which won it last time, leaving Mr. Rajak no other choice but to return to the JD(U), said sources.

Asked about his resignation, Mr. Rajak said he had already explained the reason on social media. “Every politician wants to contest elections. On several occasions, I was denied and refused by the party. I was not ready to leave JD(U) in 2020, but Lalu Yadav ji used the bond he has with me and called me. He made several promises to me. However, he did not fulfil a single one. So, I had to take a decision (to leave the RJD). After all, I am also a politician,” Mr. Rajak told The Hindu.

RJD spokesperson Shakti Yadav said Mr. Rajak’s resignation will not have any impact on the party.

Mr. Rajak, now 70, is from the Dhobi caste and is a product of the 1974 movement launched by the late Jaiprakash Narayan. After the formation of the RJD, he joined Mr. Lalu and became a Minister in his government. In 2009, he joined the JD(U). In the Nitish Kumar government, he was made Cabinet Minister and served a full term in office from 2010 to 2015. He was made a Minister in 2019 before the expulsion in 2020. As a Food and Consumer Protection Minister, he had attacked his own government in 2011 accusing that corruption was deep-rooted in the distribution system.