Two NDA leaders join Congress in Bihar

Patna: Two senior leaders of the ruling NDA in Bihar joined the Congress, months ahead of the assembly polls.

Anil Singh, a former BJP leader, and Shambhu Patel, who was with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), were inducted into the Congress by state unit president Rajesh Kumar on Wednesday.

Rajesh Kumar said it was a homecoming for Singh, whose father Ram Raj Singh had served as a minister when the party ruled the state. Singh has himself represented the now-abolished Chandi assembly seat twice, first on a Congress ticket and later as an MLA of the Samata Party, the JD(U)'s previous avatar.

Patel, who is a former JD(U) state general secretary, said he was feeling stifled in the party.

The state Congress president asserted that the induction of Singh and Patel would give the party a boost ahead of the assembly elections, which would be due later this year.