BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy. File.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Saran MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that the BJP is not giving much importance to Rajput and no people from Rajput caste have trust on any Rajput leaders in Bihar.
Mr. Rudy said this while speaking to the reporters in Chapra, Saran, on Tuesday (November 3, 2026), while replying to the question related to the recently concluded Bihar Legislative Council polls, in which Janata Dal(United) candidate Anand Pushkar lost against independent candidate Rahul Raj who belongs from Rajput community in Saran Teachers Constituency.
“Some people are saying that if Rudy ji wanted, he (Rahul Raj) would have stepped aside. Today, no Rajput in Bihar has any faith in any politician. And do you really think the BJP gives enough importance to any Rajput that they would actually heed what that person says? That is something the party needs to understand,”Mr. Rudy said.
He further said, “It is up to the BJP to decide that a candidate steps aside if Sigriwal ji (Janardan Singh Sigriwal, BJP MP from Maharajganj) of Rudy ji makes a request. I do not believe that one Rajput leader in Bihar would agree to step aside just because another Rajput leader asks him to; such a scenario does not appear likely at the moment.”
After facing defeat in the Council polls, JD(U) candidate Mr. Pushkar, who belongs to the Brahmin community, has alleged that BJP betrayed and all the Rajput MPs and MLAs of Saran including Rajiv Pratap Rudy, helped the independent candidate to win.
“BJP ke sabhi sansado ne vishwashghat kiya hai, Rajiv Pratap Rudy ji, Sigriwal ji, Radha Mohan Singh ji ne khul ke hamare saath vishwashghat kiya hai. (All the BJP MPs have committed a betrayal; Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Sigriwal, and Radha Mohan Singh have openly betrayed me.),” Mr. Pushkar had said a day after results were declared.
Mr. Pushkar’s father, late Kedar Nath Pandey, had earlier represented the Saran Teachers Constituency seat four times on the ticket of Communist Party of India (CPI).
A controversy has already erupted over “joining” the BJP by the two Independent MLCs, Bansidhar Brajwasi (Tirhut ) and Rahul Raj. Mr. Brajwasi defeated JD (U)’s Abhishek Jha from Tirhut Graduates’ seat.
Opposition party Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) demanded that both be disqualified under the anti-defection law. On Wednesday (November 4, 2026), a delegation of the RJD, led by the party’s National General Secretary Abdul Bari Siddiqui, submitted a memorandum to the Acting Chairman of the Bihar Legislative Council, Ram Bachan Rai with regard to the disqualification of both MLCs Rahul Raj who were elected as independents but subsequently joined the BJP.
When asked about Rahul Raj joining the BJP, Mr. Rudy said, “I do not want to comment on this. Under the leadership of Samrat Choudhary, good government is being run and we have blessing of Nitish Kumar ji.”
Four terms, Lok Sabha member, Mr. Rudy was part of the Narendra Modi cabinet after the victory in the 2014 general election, but in September 2017, he resigned from Skill Development Ministry, since then he never became a minister in Centre.
The differences with his own party came into the public domain in August 2025, when Mr. Rudy defeated former Union Minister and BJP leader Sanjeev Balyan in keenly contested Constitution Club poll in New Delhi. Everyone called it BJP Vs BJP battle.
Social Activist based in Saran division Thakur Bunty Singh said, “In Saran Teachers Constituency Rajput have maximum numbers of MPs and MLAs which includes nine MLA, four MPs and two MLCs, Despite that no representation in Bihar and Central government from Saran Teachers Constituency.”
Published – November 05, 2026 05:41 am IST
