Nitish Kumar versus Sharad Yadav: Parallel JDU meetings in Patna today

JDU general secretary KC Tyagi said, “When more than 90 per cent MPs, MLAs and office-bearers of the party in Bihar are with Nitish Kumar, how can one or two people rebelling against the party’s decision cause a split?”

3 min readNew DelhiAug 19, 2017 10:52 AM IST First published on: Aug 19, 2017 at 04:05 AM IST

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Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and ousted Rajya Sabha leader Sharad Yadav will hold meetings in Patna today. Nitish’s reinduction into NDA is likely. (Source: PTI Photo/File)

The Janata Dal (United) is set to hold parallel meetings of rival camps, led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and party’s ousted Rajya Sabha leader Sharad Yadav, in Patna on Saturday amid indications that the Nitish-led national executive meeting could decide to take tough action against Yadav. Top leaders of both factions, however, dismissed reports of a split, each claiming to be the genuine party unit.

While JD(U) general secretary K C Tyagi said that the national executive meeting at the chief minister’s 1-Anne Marg residence is the party’s official programme, Bihar JD(U) chief spokesperson Sanjay Singh said, “We have nothing to do with Jan Adalat programme (to be organised by the Sharad Yadav faction).”

About the agenda of the national executive, Tyagi said it would put its seal of approval on the Bihar unit’s decision to break away from the RJD-JD(U)-Congress Grand Alliance in Bihar and form a government with help of the BJP-led NDA “in the interests of the state”. He added, “The national executive will also give its consent to the invitation of BJP president Amit Shah to JD(U) to join the NDA.”

Suspended JD(U) general secretary Arun Srivastava, who is in the Yadav camp, however, said that no JD(U) national executive has yet been constituted, and thus the meeting is “null and void”. Claiming that Yadav is leader of the “real JD(U)”, he said, “If only four states are recognised by them, let them be the leader of four state units. Most of the state units are with us.”

Tyagi asserted that Bihar is the only state where JD(U) is a recognised party and runs a government. He said, “When more than 90 per cent MPs, MLAs and office-bearers of the party in Bihar are with Nitish Kumar, how can one or two people rebelling against the party’s decision cause a split?” Srivastava claimed to have received letters of support from presidents of 14 JD(U) state units, “who are opposed to JD(U)’s alliance with BJP”. “They expressed their willingness to attend the Patna convention but may not be able to do so since it is being held at a short notice,” he said.

Tyagi, however, said that the party units in most of these states are neither elected nor functional. Srivastava said that they could approach the Election Commission to stake claim on the party’s name and symbol in case of a split. Rajya Sabha MP Ali Anwar Ansari, the first to raise a banner of revolt against Nitish following the latter’s decision to team up with the BJP, said, “I and Sharad-ji had thought of attending the national executive meeting and giving our opinion against dumping the Grand Alliance and joining hands with the BJP. But they (Nitish Kumar group) could not wait even until August 19, and suspended me and removed Sharad-ji from the post of parliamentary party chief. This is undemocratic.”