Before Harivansh, rebellion of 11 JD(U) RS MPs in Nitish era: George and Sharad to Kushwaha and Shivanand

The relationship between the JD(U) leadership and Harivansh have remained strained for months as the latter did not step down from his position even though Nitish cut his ties with the BJP and walked out of the NDA to form a new government with the Mahagathbandhan alliance in August last year. Their relations deteriorated further when Harivansh attended the unveiling of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28 this year even though the JD(U) along with other Opposition parties boycotted the event in protest against President Droupadi Murmu being not invited to inaugurate it.

JD (U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh recently took at swipe at Harivansh, urging media persons to ask the latter if he was “part of JD (U) or not”.

Harivansh, who did not react to his party president’s jibes, had earlier said that by taking part in the inauguration of the new Parliament building he had “only done his constitutional duty”. A source close to him said Harivansh had also taken part in the foundation laying function of the new Parliament building in 2019 when the JD (U) was part of the NDA.

But Harivansh’s alleged rebellion against the JD(U) leadership is not an exception, given the party’s history since December 2005 when Nitish Kumar became the Bihar Chief Minister for the first time.

For about 12 of its senior leaders including Harivansh, whom the party sent to the Rajya Sabha over the last 17 years either deserted the party or rebelled against its leadership. The list of such leaders include JD (U) stalwart late George Fernandes, former NDA convener late Sharad Yadav, ex-Union minister Upendra Kushwaha, Finance Commission chairperson N K Singh, and veteran leader Shivanand Tiwari.

George Fernandes fell out with the Nitish-led JD (U) before the 2009 Lok Sabha polls after being denied a party ticket on the grounds of “ill-health”. He contested from Muzaffarpur as an Independent but lost the election. Subsequently, the JD(U), however, got the ailing leader elected to the Rajya Sabha.

Sharad Yadav, who had long been the JD (U) national president, was disqualified from the Rajya Sabha in 2017 after he questioned Nitish’s decision to return to the NDA then after snapping his ties with the Mahagathbandhan.

Upendra Kushwaha, once a close lieutenant of Nitish, was sent by the JD(U) to the Rajya Sabha in 2010. But he resigned from the Upper House in 2013 after rebelling against Nitish, and formed his own party, Rashtriya Lok Samata Party. He returned to the JD (U) in 2021 but quit in 2023 and formed the Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal.

N K Singh and Shivanand Tiwari quit JD (U) after being denied renomination for the Rajya Sabha after their term as the MP ended. Nitish had offered both of them the party’s tickets for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, but they refused to contest. Tiwari later joined the RJD and is currently that party’s national vice president. Singh, who joined the BJP in 2014, went on to become the chairperson of the 15th Finance Commission.

Two-time Rajya Sabha MP Ali Anwar, who was touted as a prominent Muslim face of the JD (U), quit the party in 2017 after Nitish’s decision to return to the NDA.

However, there have been some prominent JD(U) leaders and Rajya Sabha members who never faced the axe. These include medicine baron Mahendra Prasad or King Mahendra and JD (U) advisor and chief spokesperson KC Tyagi. King Mahendra remained a JD (U) MP of the Upper House till his death in 2021.

When asked for his comment on the issue, Tyagi said: “We are surprised and dismayed at this Rajya Sabha jinx for us. It is mostly because of individual ambitions. Even if this is coincidence, it is quite baffling.”