19 august 2024 : Narendra Kumar Pandey, also known as Sunil Pandey and recognized as the “Arrah strongman,” has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday, accompanied by his son, Vishal Prashant. Pandey is a four-time former Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and a leader of the National Lok Janshakti Party. Reports indicate that Prashant may contest in the forthcoming Tarari Assembly by-elections, which have arisen following the election of CPI (ML) leader Sudama Prasad as a Member of Parliament from Arrah in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Sunil Pandey initially secured victory from the Piro Assembly constituency in Bhojpur district in 2000 on a Janata Dal ticket and successfully defended his seat as a nominee of the Janata Dal (United) in 2005. He also represented Tarari in the 2010 Assembly elections, following the delimitation that transformed Piro into Tarari in 2008. Pandey departed from the JD(U) prior to the 2015 elections, during which his wife, Geeta Pandey, contested as a candidate for the Lok Janshakti Party but was unsuccessful, as was Pandey himself in the 2020 Assembly elections.
Dilip Jaiswal, the Bihar BJP chief, remarked that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would be strengthened by this new addition. Pandey expressed to the media, “Having been with the JD(U) and served the NDA for an extended period, we will collaborate to establish the NDA as an unassailable force.”
Despite facing over twenty legal cases, including a conviction in a 2003 kidnapping case involving Dr. Ramesh Chandra, from which he was acquitted by the Patna High Court in 2010, some BJP leaders have suggested that the party should reconsider the inclusion of individuals like Pandey.