Dharmendra Kushwaha, son of JD(U) MP Mahabali Singh seeks blessing of Lalu Prasad after joining the RJD on Sunday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Sept. 26: Family ties hardly matter in politics. Sons of political bigwigs in Bihar are proving it.

Least bothered about ending up on the wrong side of their fathers, sons of some political heavyweights have switched sides in the past few days. A couple of days ago, Sudhakar Singh, the son of senior RJD leader and MP Jagdanand Singh, joined the BJP. Today, Dharmendra Kushwaha, the son of JD(U) MP Karakat Mahabali Singh, joined the RJD.

“Hisab kitab barabar (now the scores are equal),” said RJD chief Lalu Prasad after Dharmendra joined his party, compensating the loss of Sudhakar.

Though Sudhakar and Dharmendra have switched sides, their fathers still swear by the parties they are in.

“I will not indulge in political prostitution,” said Jagdanand recently, when asked to comment on the possibility of his crossing over to the JD(U).

Similarly, JD(U) MP Mahabali declared that he would continue to campaign for the NDA candidate even if his son contested in the polls as a candidate of the RJD.

Their sons have their own explanations. Sudhakar claimed he joined the BJP because he was impressed by the development in the NDA regime. Dharmendra, on the other hand, accused Nitish Kumar of trying to divide the Kushwaha caste.

Insiders, however, indicated that both Sudhakar and Dharmendra switched sides because they were keen to contest Assembly polls with or without their fathers’ support.

Jagdanand reportedly refused to back his son’s claim for a ticket. The JD(U) MP realised it would be difficult to get a ticket for his son in his party because of chief minister Nitish Kumar’s strong dislike for giving tickets to the kin of MPs and MLAs.

“The ideology and principle of a political party have become irrelevant. Only getting a ticket is relevant these days,” said RJD MP Ram Kripal Yadav reacting to the move of Jagdanand’s son.

Besides Jagadanand and Mahabali, a few other political leaders may see their sons on their rivals’ side.

Mantu Tiwari, the son of JD(U) MP Shivanand Tiwari, is lobbying hard for a ticket — even if it meant from the RJD. JD(U) MP Puranmasi Ram’s son Ajay Kumar Ram fought in the bypolls last year as an RJD candidate. He may repeat the same this year.

The dedicated fathers deserted by their sons politically, however, are likely to win sympathy of their bosses, like Jagdanand won today.

Lalu Parasd said: “He (Jagadanand) is a dedicated man and always committed to the party. He is a man for every community.”

The RJD chief also put to an end the poetry war with the chief minister and suggested the chief minister to become the head of the poetry department in the Nalanda University.

“Now the series of poems will stop. None of my party workers will recite poem anymore. We are giving that department to Nitish Kumar. He wants to divert people’s attention taking the help of poems,” Lalu said.

According to Lalu, Nitish is set to lose in the coming Assembly polls as he has failed to deliver his promises.

Lalu said: “Teachers are not getting their salary, the quality of education has slipped and the girls are not getting proper education.”