Bihar CM Nitish Kumar-led JD-U formally joins NDA

Patna: A month after Nitish Kumar formed a government in Bihar with the support of BJP, JD(U) passed a resolution to join NDA during the party’s national executive meeting on Saturday. The decision also paves way for the JD(U) to become the parts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet. “BJP president Amit Shah had asked us to join NDA. We have passed the resolution and from today onwards we are part of it,” JD(U) spokesperson  K.C. Tyagi told reporters after the meeting.

Mr Kumar had snapped ties with the saffron party in 2013, walking out of the NDA on grounds that Mr Modi was declared as prime ministerial candidate by the BJP. But after being badly bruised in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he sank all his political differences and joined hands with his arch-rival Lalu Yadav and returned as the chief minister of Bihar for the third consecutive term by defeating the BJP in 2015 Assembly polls.

However, his decision to break twenty-month-old alliance with the RJD and Congress has resulted in splitting his party JD (U). Senior JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav was the first to revolt against the decision followed by another party leader Ali Anwar. Reacting to the development Mr Yadav, who had called a separate meeting of rebel leaders in Patna, said, “I have nothing against any individual but it’s the people of the state who are feeling betrayed”.

After the meeting, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is also the party chief, targeted Mr Sharad Yadav and questioned why he hadn’t stopped the party from splitting in 2013. Mr Kumar said that “those who say that the JD(U) has no mass base are misinformed, as any party the JD (U) sides with wins during elections”. Though the meeting ended without any action against Sharad Yadav, JD(U) secretary general K C Tyagi gave hints that the decision against him could be taken after the RJD’s August 27 rally.