JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav may form new party, will remain with ‘secular alliance,’ says aide

Sharad broke his silence with a series of tweets and telling journalists in New Delhi that he was unhappy with the Bihar development.
JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav (File | PTI)
JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav (File | PTI)

PATNA: Sharad Yadav, the JD(U) veteran, hurt by party chief and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s desertion of the grand alliance with RJD, may float a new party in order to stay with the “secular alliance,” a leader close to him said on Wednesday.
 
Senior JD(U) leader Vijay Verma, considered a close aide of Yadav, said, “As a lifelong socialist leader, he (Sharad) is deeply anguished by the developments in the party’s (JD-U) Bihar unit. He is in touch with his huge circle of political friends for the past one week. Among the options he is considering is formation of a new party.”
 
Rejecting speculation that Yadav, a sitting Rajya Sabha member from JD(U) and a former union minister, could join the Narendra Modi-led NDA government as a minister, Verma said: “There is absolutely no possibility of that happening. He has ruled that out”.
 
Nitish Kumar’s decision, to break away from the grand alliance and his decision of forming a JD(U)-BJP government in Bihar, pained Sharad Yadav and several other JD(U) leaders. At least two other Rajya Sabha members from the party — Ali Anwar and Veerendra Kumar — have already voiced their strong opposition to Nitish Kumar’s decision.
 
After sulking for three days, Sharad broke his silence with a series of tweets and telling journalists in New Delhi that he was unhappy with the Bihar development. “The people’s mandate was not for it (allying with the BJP),” he said on Monday, describing the collapse of the grand alliance as “unpleasant” and “unfortunate”. He is, however, yet to reveal his future course of action.
 
JD(U) leaders owing allegiance to Nitish expressed hope that Sharad would remain in the party and that his sense of resentment would disappear soon.
 
KC Tyagi, JD(U) national general secretary and Rajya Sabha member, said, “He (Sharad) is a very senior and important leader of our party. The national executive meeting is scheduled on August 19. A conversation between the two leaders (Sharad and Nitish) there would end whatever confusion there is.”
 
RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has appealed to Sharad to join the grand alliance. “Just wait and watch,” said Yadav on Wednesday when asked about Sharad’s likely next step.

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