Former state Janata Dal-U chief and its senior member Gautam Sagar Rana and his supporters today quit the party.

Rana and his supporters had quit membership of the JD-Uraising charges against Bihar CM and party chief Nitish Kumar.” Several times discussion took place to strengthen JD-U in Jharkhand. But he( Nitish Kumar) failed to fulfill aspirations of members”, says Gautam Sagar Rana.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar-led JD-U does not have an electoral base in Jharkhand where not even one of 81 assembly seats in its pocket. 

Against this backdrop, ambitious Nitish Kumar who dreams to be Prime Minister, nurtured a plan to spread party wings in Jharkhand. His plan appears to have suffered a jolt with Rana and his followers leaving his party JD-U.

Rana, earlier the chief of the RJD youth wing, had defected to JD-U in 2000 just ahead of the Bihar Assembly election. This time he has quit JDU ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Notably, after the formation of Jharkhand the same year, Rana was elevated to the post of chairman of the ruling NDA coordination committee. In 2003, Rana was made the state JD-U chief, following a merger of the Samata Party and JD-U. However, this time, Rana has quit the JD-U, alleging gross negligence by the party's top brass. 

Rana’s exit from the party is only the beginning of a fall of JD-U party workers, it is learnt.