BJP Patliputra MP Ram Kripal Yadav has been invited to 7, Race Course Road for tea on Sunday, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet expansion. Mr. Yadav, if inducted, will be the party’s “Yadav” face in next year’s Assembly elections, challenging his erstwhile leader and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad.
For over three decades, Mr. Ram Kripal Yadav remained Mr. Prasad’s closest confidante in the State’s politics. However, when Mr. Prasad denied a ticket to his Man Friday in the last Lok Sabha elections to field his eldest daughter Misa Bharti from Patliputra constituency, Mr. Yadav quit the RJD to join the BJP. He took on Ms. Bharti and Mr. Prasad and won — helped both by his own grassroots popularity and the “NaMo wave”.
However, Mr. Yadav did not expect to be inducted into the Union Cabinet as he has never held a ministerial position in his three-decade political career, despite being a five-time MP.
Mr. Yadav could not be contacted but leaders close to him expressed happiness over his likely induction into the Modi Cabinet.
