Patna, (Bihar Times):Raghunath Jha a senior RJD leader and MP from Bettiah constituency finally got a berth in the Union Cabinet. He was sworn in as a Minister of State in a simple function organized at Rashtrapati Bhavan. He has been given charge of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises earlier held by Kanti Singh another minister from Bihar. She has been shifted to tourism and Culture department. Another minister from Bihar, Shakeel Ahmed is now shifted to Home ministry from Communication and IT (Information Technology) department.
Jha holds tremendous clout in his constituency and among those who matter in the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). That is what party insiders say. Raghunath Jha, 69 from Sitamarhi in Bihar is a two-time MP having once been elected on a Samata Party ticket in 1999.
Jha did not seem overly excited when he got that call that he was going to be sworn in.
"I have been a minister many times in Bihar. We are like Everyday batteries, ready to go all the time. And so is the case now," he said briefly.
Educated till intermediate from the small town in the state's northeast province, Jha's political career is cobbled with instances of switching political loyalties.
As minister of state in the Congress-led Jaganath Mishra government in 1980, he was denied a ticket for the 1985 assembly elections. But that did not bother him and he contested and won as an Independent.
He joined the RJD in 1998 but parted way with party chief Lalu Prasad a year later and joined the Samata Party.
After Jha suffered successive defeats both in the Lok Sabha elections in 1998 and in an assembly by-election in November 1998, he finally bid goodbye to his home district Sitamarhi.
In the Lok Sabha elections of September 1999 he managed to get a Samata Party ticket for the Gopalganj seat and won. However, when things were not going smoothly he chose to return to the RJD.
