Senior RJD leader Veena Shahi joins BJP in Bihar

Former Bihar minister and RJD leader Veena Shahi on Friday joined BJP saying she wishes to see Narendra Modi as the country's Prime Minister. Former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi administered party membership to Shahi at the state BJP headquarters here in presence of Bihar BJP president Mangal Pandey.

Shahi, widow of former Congress MLA Hemant Shahi and daughter-in-law of former Union minister LP Shahi, had switched sides to RJD on the eve of the 2010 Assembly polls.

About her experience in RJD, she said she had merely passed time in that party. "Laluji ke party me kaam nahi hota hain, sirf rajniti hota hai (in Lalu's party there is no work, but only politics)," she told reporters.

Rooting for Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister, Shahi said "One lion is better than hundreds of rats." Shahi's entry in BJP was a setback for RJD on the eve of the crucial election at Vaishali Lok Sabha seat from where former Union Rural Development minister Raghubansh Prasad Singh is in the fray.

BJP has given the seat to its ally LJP which has fielded Rama Singh from the seat.