Mokokchung, January 27 (MTNews): The Janata Dal (United), which is part of the ruling grand alliance in Bihar, has been participating in the Nagaland assembly elections in the past as well, but now its ally Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has also aspired to become a national party and has once more begun preparing to obtain national party recognition.
Former MLA and RJD national general secretary Bhola Yadav has declared that they will run for at least 10 assembly seats in Nagaland in the forthcoming elections, according to livehindustan.
According to the news outlet, Yadav said, “We have already identified the seats and there are many candidates for tickets.” At present, RJD is currently recognized as a state party in Jharkhand and Bihar.
Yadav also claimed the party had performed admirably in 10 of the 25 seats it ran for in the 2008 Nagaland Assembly elections. According to sources, he travelled to Nagaland a few days back with Bihar Agriculture Minister Sarabjit Kumar and has returned today.
According to Election Commission records, the Rashtriya Janata Party had secured 6.56% of the total votes polled in the 2008 assembly elections in Nagaland.
RJD’s party status
Having performed better in the 2008 Nagaland and 2007 Manipur general elections, where the RJD won three seats with 6.67% of the vote, the party was granted state party recognition in both of the north-eastern states.
According to RJD officials, the party’s first national party status since its founding in 1997 was attained in 2008 in four states: Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, and Nagaland. RJD, however, lost its national party status in 2013 as a result of its failure to run for a sizable number of seats in state assembly elections outside of Bihar and Jharkhand after 2010.