Patna, Feb 22 (PTI) Former JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘Lalan’ on Thursday filed a defamation suit against a leading news channel and a Hindi daily for their reports regarding his relinquishment of the top party post.
Lalan lodged the case at a court in Patna and shared the details on his social media accounts, accusing the media outlets of damaging his reputation and casting doubts on his “37-year-old relationship with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.” Kumar succeeded Lalan as the party president in December last. Lalan had said he wanted to step down from the post to focus more on his constituency of Munger ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Speculations were rife that Lalan had been made to step down because of perceived closeness to RJD president Lalu Prasad, with whom ties were snapped by Kumar a month ago.
Lalan referred to reports in a section of the media alleging that he had, while heading the party, called a meeting of JD(U) MLAs to plot the removal of Nitish Kumar as the chief minister, for the benefit of the RJD supremo’s son Tejashwi Yadav, who was then the Deputy CM.
Lalan clarified, “Although I voluntarily relinquished the party president’s post with the consent of Nitish Kumar, certain media outlets published unfounded reports. I issued legal notices in response.” He added, “The replies I received to the legal notice were vague (gol matol). So, after seeking legal opinion, I filed defamation suits against the news channel and the newspaper before a court in Patna”. PTI NAC MNB
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