New Delhi: A day after Nitish Kumar took oath as an NDA chief minister, senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav showed the first signs of rebellion indicating that he was not happy with the move to align with BJP and would not accept any position at the Centre.
Despite a meeting with Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday evening, JD(U) sources in Mr Yadav’s camp said that the senior leader was not on board with the Bihar chief minister’s decision and had reportedly rebuffed the offer of a position at the Centre.
On Thursday evening, Mr Yadav had a meeting with the CPI(M) general secretary, Mr Sitaram Yechury and senior Congress leader, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad. On Thursday, Mr Yadav had a meeting with the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi. On Thursday night, Union Finance minister Arun Jaitley had called on Mr Yadav and sources indicated that the BJP had offered him a cabinet berth.
Though Mr Yadav seemed to be “unhappy” and “upset” with Mr Kumar’s move to switch allegiance, sources indicated that he “does not have support” within the JD(U) to trouble the Bihar chief minister.
While leaders remained tighlipped about the meeting, it was learnt that Mr Yadav could be asked to play a key role in forging an anti-BJP alliance at the national level. Another section in the JD(U) claimed that Mr Yadav was “not happy” with Mr Jaitley’s offer and he could be “bragaining” for a “better placement.” It was revealed that the Bihar chief minister, Mr Kumar was also not in favour of offering any “crucial ministrial berth” to Mr Yadav. However, at this juncture, Mr Yadav was busy meeting the Opposition leaders and was in constant touch with the RJD chief, Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav. Speaking to the media in Bihar, Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav said that “Sharad Yadav called and said indicated his support to us.” If Mr Yadav decided to adhere to the Opposition, he would be used by the BJP rivals to muster the OBC vote bank. In Bihar, Mr Yadav’s camp claimed that though the legislators have rallied around Mr Kumar, “he (Sharad) has the support of the state unit.”
