Sharad Yadav to skip Lalu rally to save Rajya Sabha seat

New Delhi: Rebel JD(U) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sharad Yadav is expected to give a miss to the rally of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on August 27 in Patna, sources said.

A leader close to Sharad Yadav said attending the rally could be seen as giving up party membership voluntarily. This will give an opportunity to the JD(U) Whip in Rajya Sabha to seek Mr Yadav’s disqualification from the House, he said.

If Mr Yadav is disqualified from the Rajya Sabha, the numbers of the Opposition parties will dwindle and the seat will positively go to the NDA kitty, he said.

Lalu Yadav is organising the “BJP hatao desh bachao” rally to expose the “betrayal by Nitish Kumar”, after the JD(U) chief and  Bihar chief minister dumped the Grand Alliance and formed a government with the NDA.

Hitting out at the proposed rally, Bihar deputy chief minister and BJP leader Sushil Modi said, “This rally should actually be called ‘Benami sampatti banchao’ rally.”

Parties with serious corruption charges against them have joined hands to make the rally successful, he said. The JD(U) has virtually split after the JD(U) forged an alliance with the NDA in Bihar. Most of the members of the party supported party chief and the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s decision to join hands with the NDA but Rajya Sabha MPs Sharad Yadav and Ali Anwar have criticised the decision.

Mr Anwar was suspended by the party on August 11 and 21 other rebel leaders in Bihar were suspended on August 14.

For his rally, Lalu Yadav has extended invitation to prominent Opposition leaders. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee have confirmed their participation.

Left parties, along with the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, are also expected to attend the rally.

Interestingly 16 opposition parties attended the “Sanjhi Virasat Bachao” conclave organised by Sharad Yadav in Delhi on August 17.