‘Rejection of Samata merger doesn’t make a difference’

Asserting that the Samata Party had ‘‘ceased to exist’’ in his view, Janata Dal(U) national president and Defence Minister George Fernandes today said the rejection of the JD(U)-Samata Party merger by the EC would not make a difference to his party. ‘‘It will not make a difference,’’ Fernandes said here en route to Salem in Tamil Nadu to address a rally.

‘‘JD(U) is the party which has an election symbol. If anyone wants to use the Samata name and fight the elections, what is our loss?. To us, there is no Samata Party now,’’he said.

The EC yesterday ruled that the Samata has not ceased to exist as a party and that the merger was ‘‘only a case of a few individuals’’ of the party, or at the most, a group led by Fernandes joining the JD(U). In Patna, Nitish Kumar said if need be a review petition would be filed with the EC. ‘‘All the procedures were followed for the merger,’’ he said.