PATNA: A split in the ruling Janata Dal United (JD-U) in Bihar looked imminent on Thursday as former party president Sharad Yadav formally declared a war on chief minister Nitish Kumar for “betraying” the people’s mandate and joining hands with the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Yadav also declared he was still with the Grand Alliance which Kumar broke with to form government with the BJP.
“The Grand Alliance was (formed) for five years, but was broken midway which is a betrayal of the 110 million people of Bihar,” Yadav told the media soon after landing in Patna on Thursday noon to hold interactions with the masses to decide over the next course of action.
Yadav, who is second-in-command of the party, will be touring various parts of the state for the next two days to get feedback about the formation of the present National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government by Kumar after breaking off from the Grand Alliance comprising the Rashtriya Janata Dal led by Lalu Prasad, the JD-U and the Congress.
Hundreds of supporters welcomed him soon after he landed in Patna, shouting slogans in favour of Yadav who had represented the Yadav-dominated Madhepura seat in Lok Sabha four times in the past. Although the JD-U has directed its leaders to stay away from his programmes terming it as his “personal visit”, quite a few lawmakers of the chief minister were seen in the company of Yadav.
A large number of party leaders are angry with the chief minister over his reportedly unilateral move to form a government with the BJP and also his alleged “dictatorial” attitude in running the organisation, and wants Yadav to lead the party. Kumar presently continues as the national JD-U president in addition to being the chief minister of Bihar.
“I am very hurt (at the entire development). I have been closely associated with Bihar for the past 40 years. I extensively campaigned for over a month and sought votes for the Grand Alliance, but it has been broken midway,” Yadav rued.
He wondered over the way the two parties (BJP and JD-U) with different ideologies and manifestos fought against each other in the elections but joined hands midway to form government together.
“Never in the history of Indian democracy has such a thing happened. This is an assault on the trust of the masses,” Yadav said, adding he was still with the Grand Alliance.
Reports said the Yadav faction is also planning to dismiss Nitish Kumar as the JD-U president and take over the party soon. “Kumar’s unilateral move to pull out of the ruling Grand Alliance violates the mandate of the 2015 Assembly elections. As many as 14 state unit chiefs have expressed faith in the leadership of Sharad Yadav and condemned Kumar’s decision. We are exploring legal and constitutional options (on expelling Kumar as the party president),” former JD-U general secretary Arun Kumar Srivastava told the media on Thursday. Srivastava is considered close to Yadav.
The faction led by chief minister Kumar has termed Yadav’s Bihar tour programme as “anti-party” activity and warned of action against him. “His tour programme has been sponsored by the RJD,” alleged JD-U spokesperson Niraj Kumar.
