Bihar’s political climate continues to breathe fire as internal cracks have been forming in the JD(U) party after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar decided to form the government with BJP’s support.
The internal rift in the JD(U) on Saturday is set to deepen as two parallel meetings of rival camps – as witnessed in the case of AIADMK in Tamil Nadu – have been scheduled. One of the meetings will be addressed by the Bihar chief minister while the other will involve ousted Rajya Sabha leader and former party president Sharad Yadav.
The meetings are taking place in Patna in the backdrop of massive dissent by Yadav over the recent developments in Bihar. It has been learnt that the Nitish-led national executive meet could decide to take action against Yadav.
While top leaders of both the factions have denied any chances of a split, a ‘poster war’ has already started before the meeting.
Ahead of the national executive meet of JDU, both factions of the party led by Party chief Nitish Kumar and former party president Sharad Yadav have pasted poster in Patna claiming to be the real JDU.
The posters have been put up side by side with huge pictures of Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav, thus indicating that chances of a split cannot be completely dismissed.
JD(U) general secretary KC Tyagi said the national executive meeting, to be held at the chief minister’s residents, is an official programme, and another party spokesperson will have “nothing to do with Jan Adalat programme to be organised by Yadav”.
On the agenda of the meet, Tyagi said it would "seal its approval" on the Bihar unit’s decision to break away from the three-party grand alliance in Bihar.
“The national executive will also give its consent to the invitation of BJP president Amit Shah to JD(U) to join the NDA,” he said.
Rebel side speaks
On the other hand, the unofficial Yadav faction, comprised of suspended leaders said the national executive meet is “null and void” as there are still apprehensions about the leadership.
Suspended JD(U) general secretary Arun Srivastava claimed that Yadav is a leader of the “real JD(U)”, adding that the Nitish faction is only recognised by four states, so “let them be the leader of the four states.” Most of the state units are with us”, he added.
While Tyagi had made it clear that more than 90 per cent of MPs, officer-bearers and MLAs are in Bihar are with Nitish Kumar, Srivastava from the supposed rebel faction said they have received letters of support for the former party president from 14 JD(U) state units.
Srivastava claimed that all of the aforementioned state units are “opposed to the party’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.
Making a counter-point, Tyagi said most of the state units which have shown dissent are neither elected nor functional. But the “rebel faction” has already started mending ways to approach the Election Commission to stake claim to the party’s name or symbol in case of a split.
An AIADMK-like situation
Signs of dissent within the party started showing as soon as the Bihar chief minister decided to part ways from the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar. While one two to three MPs openly criticised the move, more than 21 party leaders were suspended by the JD(U) for being “Sharad Yadav's loyalists”.
Some of the party members even called the new partnership between the NDA and JD(U) as undemocratic. Sharpening the attack on Nitish Kumar for giving up "democratic norms", Rajya Sabha MP Ali Anwar Ansari asserted that those opposed to the Bihar CM represented the "real" JD (U), and added "Nitish represents BJP Janata Dal."
Refusing to acknowledge a "split" in the party, Ansari said there was "sharp resentment" among JD(U) workers on the removal of Sharad Yadav as the leader of party MPs in the Rajya Sabha and also for questioning Nitish's decision to form an alliance with the BJP.