Ex-RJD Spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari Joins BJP Days After Quitting Party

Former RJD spokesman Mrityunjay Tiwari on Friday joined the BJP, a week after severing ties with the opposition party in Bihar and venting spleen against its top leadership.Tiwari, who had for years been one of the most prominent faces of the RJD on news channels, was inducted into the BJP by its state president Sanjay Saraogi, in presence of senior leaders like the party's former Bihar unit chief Mangal Pandey.Welcoming Tiwari into the party fold, Saraogi said "he has always been a man who practices the politics of probity. He now finds his true home".Pandey, who is currently the BJP's in-charge for West Bengal, said "Tiwari has all through lived the ideals of cultural nationalism. His entry will further strengthen our party".Tiwari had on July 16 issued a video statement, announcing that he was quitting the RJD as he was "feeling suffocated" in the party.He had said that RJD supremo Lalu Prasad appointed him as a party spokesperson way back in 2014, and "I did my best defending the Rashtriya Janata Dal in the media while it was going through a lean phase".Tiwari had added that with Prasad past his prime, he broached his concerns about the RJD's prospects with its supremo's heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, only to realise that the working president "has surrounded himself with elements hollowing out the party like termites".(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)