Former RJD women’s wing president Ritu Jaiswal joined the BJP at the party’s office in Bihar’s Patna on Tuesday in the presence of BJP Bihar president Sanjay Sarawaji. This step came after she announced her decision in a post on social media, in which she described politics as “a means of service, responsibility, and ideology, not a show.”
Notably, Jaiswal turned to rebellion against the RJD after she was denied a ticket from her chosen seat during the Bihar assembly elections last year. Subsequently, she chose to contest the elections as an independent candidate from Parihar constituency.
Ritu Jaiswal joins BJP
The former RJD Women’s Party president officially became part of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Patna on Tuesday.
After joining the party, she told news agency PTI: “When you look at things through only one lens, you see only one side. But I feel proud that the Prime Minister does not wear any such lens.”
Before joining the ceremony, she published a post on X announcing her decision. She said in the post that politics for her is “a means of service, responsibility, and ideology, not a show.”
She wrote: “At present, the country is going through many challenges and sensitive circumstances. The Honorable Prime Minister also particularly stressed on energy and fuel conservation. At such times, I believe unnecessary crowds, long processions and ostentation are not appropriate.
Politics, for me, is a means of service, responsibility, and ideology, not a show. Service to the community and nation can be performed with full dedication only through simplicity, sensitivity and the spirit of public welfare.
“Therefore, I humbly request all of you, wherever you are, to extend your blessings, good wishes and support from there. If you have already decided to attend the program, please use public transportation or shared vehicles as much as possible, so that unnecessary fuel can be saved, and together we can demonstrate responsible citizenship,” she added.
Why did Ritu Jaiswal turn into an RJD rebel?
She took a rebellious stance after failing to get a ticket from Parihar during the Lok Sabha elections last year. After that, she ran in the elections as an independent candidate.
In a Facebook post, she expressed her disappointment over the RJD’s decision to nominate Smita Purvi Gupta, the daughter-in-law of former party president Ramchandra Purvi. She held Bourf responsible for her defeat from the same constituency in the 2020 House of Representatives elections.
She served as the state president of the RJD’s women’s wing and also served as the party’s national spokesperson between 2021 and 2023.
She has also contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Sheohar. However, she was defeated by JD(U) candidate Lovely Anand by a margin of less than 30,000 votes.
In October last year, he was expelled from the RJD for carrying out “anti-party” activities during the elections.
Jaiswal is married to former civil servant Arun Kumar, who left government service and later became a mukhiya of Singawahini panchayat in Sitamarhi. Ritu held this position earlier.
