Patna,(BiharTimes): Just ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha election former Rajya Sabha MP of Rashtriya Janata Dal, Anil Kumar, on Wednesday joined Janata Dal (United) in the presence of chief minister Nitish Kumar and the state party president Bashistha Narain Singh at the Makar Sankranti feast hosted by the latter.

Welcoming him to the party Nitish expressed happiness and said his joining would help the JD (U). Anil had left the RJD some years back.

He belongs to a distinguished Mahadalit family of the state. His father Chandrika Ram was a member of the Constituent Assembly and, later, a minister in Bihar. His elder brother Ajit Kumar is Consul-General at Indian Consulate in Atlanta (USA) and younger brother Dr Sushil Kumar is in Manchester in Britain.

Another younger brother, Sunil Kumar, is a senior IPS officer, and during the Lalu-Rabri rule had served as SSP Patna for several years.

Anil was first elected to Assembly from Bhore constituency (in Gopalganj) on Congress ticket. He contested in 1990 as Independent and lost. Later, he joined the then Janata Dal and was sent to Rajya Sabha in 1992 and again in 1998. In 2005, he won both the Assembly elections held that year on RJD ticket.

Joining the party he said he was impressed by the working style of Nitish who, he said, has done a lot for the weaker and deprived sections of the society and gave Bihar good governance.

Incidentally, he joined the party only a few days after the JD(U) MP from Gopalganj, Purnamasi Ram, openly raised the banner of revolt and said he would be contesting the coming election on the RJD ticket.