Cricketer Ishan Kishan’s father Pranav Pandey joins Nitish Kumar’s JD(U)

Pranav Pandey, father of Indian cricketer Ishan Kishan, has joined the Janata Dal (United) in Patna. He received party membership in the presence of the party’s national working president and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Jha.

Expressing his commitment, Pandey said, “I am a soldier of the party and will work dedicatedly to strengthen it.” Earlier, JD(U) MP Sanjay Jha said, “Pranav Pandey is joining our party, Janata Dal (United), due to his faith in chief minister Nitish Kumar… This will greatly strengthen our presence, especially in the Magadh region. He is the father of Ishan Kishan, an Indian cricketer and a prominent sports figure from Bihar.”

Bihar is set to hold bypolls for four assembly seats—Ramgarh, Tarari, Belaganj, and Imamganj—on November 13. These seats became vacant after the last Lok Sabha elections. Results will be announced on November 23.

Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan recently made a comeback to the national setup, having been named on Monday to the 15-member India A squad for the upcoming Australia tour. He was dropped from the BCCI central contracts earlier this year and last played with the India squad during the 2023 South Africa tour, which he left midway.

Tejashwi Yadav attacks JD(U)
In other news, former Bihar Deputy CM and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav attacked the Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), accusing them of promoting divisive agendas.

“The JDU is speaking the same language as the RSS… Those who want riots, want to break the country, and those who are anti-constitution and anti-reservation, want conflict between two communities. We want to talk about the issues… Education, agriculture, poverty and unemployment should be discussed… But the BJP only wants to discuss mandir-masjid, Hindu-Muslim, Pakistan and Kashmir,” the RJD leader said.