Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha on Sunday, November 1, 2026, demanded that the Bihar Legislative Council disqualify two newly elected Independent MLCs, Rahul Raj and Banshidhar Brajwasi, for allegedly joining the Bharatiya Janata Party. He wants the acting Chairman, Ram Bachan Rai, to act immediately.

The row began a day earlier. The Bihar BJP issued a press statement saying both men had joined the party and released pictures showing membership receipts. Once the controversy erupted, both MLCs denied joining. They said they had merely offered to back the BJP.

The anti-defection argument

Jha’s case rests on the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, better known as the Anti-Defection Law. Under it, an Independent member of the Legislative Council or Legislative Assembly cannot join a political party after being elected. Jha cited Paragraph 2(2) of the Schedule to explain the consequence. If a candidate wins as an Independent without being fielded by any party and later joins one, that member is deemed disqualified from the House.

Speaking at the state RJD headquarters, Jha, a Rajya Sabha MP and the party’s national chief spokesperson, presented videos and photographs he said showed both MLCs allegedly joining the BJP. He said they had violated the law and their memberships should be terminated.

"We will approach the Acting Chairman and demand the disqualification of these two Legislative Council members," Jha said. He made clear the party would not stop at the Council. If no decision is taken, he warned, the controversy would snowball beyond anyone’s control.

A warning of escalation

Jha did not frame the matter as a routine procedural dispute. He called it not merely "theft of votes" but a "robbery of the public mandate." He went further, naming Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He said the episode was a test for all three. If such activities were shielded or encouraged, he argued, the entire matter would be exposed before the public.

He also outlined a path beyond the legislature. Jha said the party would take the issue from the Election Commission of India to the courts. His warning was blunt.

"If the acting Chairman fails to take an immediate and impartial decision on this matter, the issue will be taken to court, as well as to the court of the people," Mr. Jha said.

That line set the tone for the day. It moved the fight out of the Council chamber and into the court of public opinion, where the RJD clearly wants it to stay.

The JD(U) angle

Jha tied the sequence of events to the balance of power between the BJP and the Janata Dal (United). He alleged that the BJP is trying to expand its own influence in Bihar while weakening its alliance partner, the JD(U). He pointed to the constituencies where the Independents won. In those seats, JD(U) candidates lost.

The numbers he cited are sharp. Banshidhar Brajwasi defeated JD(U) candidate Abhishek Jha from the Tirhut Graduate seat by a margin of over 9,000 votes. Rahul Raj defeated JD(U) candidate Anand Pushkar from the Saran Teachers seat by a margin of 1,800 votes. For a coalition partner already watching its own strength, those results read as more than a local defeat.

The allegation is political, and it is the RJD’s allegation. The reports present it as Jha’s argument, not an established finding. But it explains why the dispute has grabbed attention well beyond the two seats.

Jan Suraaj joins the attack

The Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) quickly added its voice. Kumar Saurabh, a national spokesperson for the party, addressed the press in Patna and echoed Jha’s position. He asserted that both MLCs would lose their Council status.

Saurabh said the JSP intends to submit a petition to the Chairman of the Legislative Council and also plans to approach the courts. He went after the BJP’s broader conduct in elections. "BJP inducting independent MLCs is making a mockery of the Constitution," he said.

He alleged that regardless of how an election is conducted or what the results are, the BJP manages to tilt the outcome in its favor using money, state power and influence. Those are serious charges. The BJP’s pattern, as Saurabh described it, is not a single incident but a method.

What happens next

The immediate question is the Chairman’s response. Jha asked for urgent intervention, and the RJD says it will approach the acting Chairman directly. Both MLCs deny joining the BJP, which leaves the central factual dispute unresolved. The BJP’s press statement and the membership receipts stand on one side. The denials of the two members stand on the other.

Whatever the Council decides, the fight has already moved to a wider stage. Jha has promised escalation to the Election Commission and the courts. The JSP has promised its own petition and legal action. Two opposition forces are now pressing the same point from different directions, and both are tying it to the credibility of the electoral process.

For now, the central claim is simple and explosive. Opposition parties say two independents who won Council seats were pulled into the BJP after the vote, and that the law forbids exactly that. Whether the Chairman agrees will decide whether this stays a row over a membership receipt or becomes a full constitutional test.