Darbhanga: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is facing internal dissent after announcing folk singer Maithili Thakur as its candidate for the Alinagar assembly seat in Darbhanga district. Since her selection, seven local Mandal presidents have publicly opposed her nomination, expressing support instead for Sanjay Singh, also known as Pappu Bhaiya.
The protesting Mandal presidents include Purushottam Jha (Tardih East), Pankaj Kanth (Tardih West), Sudhir Singh (Ghanshyampur East), Chandan Kumar Thakur (Ghanshyampur West), Ranjeet Kumar Mishra (Nagar Mandal), Ganga Prasad Yadav (Alinagar West) and Lal Mukhiya Ji (Alinagar East).
In a joint statement, they criticised the party for ignoring local workers who have contributed to strengthening the BJP’s grassroots presence. “Those who worked for the organisation were ignored,” they said, emphasising that selecting an “outsider” over long-serving local leaders was inappropriate.
The local leaders have also warned that they and their teams could resign from all Panchayat-level campaigns if the party continues to support Thakur. “We challenge anyone to make the NDA win in Alinagar; without local support, it will be impossible,” they said. Protesters in Alinagar raised slogans in favour of Sanjay Singh, calling for his candidacy instead.
Maithili Thakur, 25, from Bihar’s Madhubani region, joined the BJP on October 14. State President Dilip Jaiswal inducted her into the party, and she was subsequently included in the BJP’s second candidate list for the Alinagar seat.
