'Sharad Yadav was deeply hurt by Nitish Kumar's decision, taken without consulting the senior party leaders at a time when opposition unity was to be strengthened against the BJP. He felt ignored and is likely to take a final stand soon.'
Senior Janata Dal-United leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sharad Yadav is likely to float a new party soon, after expressing unhappiness over Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s decision to quit the Grand Alliance and join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Yadav, last week, said repeatedly that he was upset at and sad over Kumar's decision to dump the Grand Alliance of JD-U, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress and join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
He termed it a decision 'against the mandate given by 11 crore people of Bihar in the 2015 assembly polls'.
"It is a matter of only a few days. The JD-U will split, with several senior leaders from Bihar and across the country standing with Sharad Yadav, who will float a new party to unite all opposition parties against the BJP-led NDA," a JD-U member of the Bihar legislative council, considered close to Yadav, said in Patna on Wednesday.
Considering his stand against Kumar, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has invited Sharad Yadav to join his party and lead the nationwide campaign against the BJP.
A former party MLC Vijay Verma from Madhepura, known to be loyal to Sharad Yadav, said, "Sharadji will form a new political party, just wait for a few days."
Madhepura in flood-prone Koshi region has been a stronghold of Sharad Yadav since the 1990s, and it is locally known as his karmabhoomi. Before he parted ways with Lalu, Sharad Yadav represented Madhepura in the Lok Sabha.
"Sharadji has made it clear to us that he will not go with the NDA at any cost and will be with the Grand Alliance by forming a new party," Verma said.
According to a senior JD-U leader, several party leaders and workers still loyal to Sharad Yadav in Koshi region will join him.
Madhepura JD-U district vice president Bhuwaneshwari Praasad Yadav said he will support Sharad Yadav.
"I will stand with him, along with other party leaders. His decision is our decision," he said.
Meanwhile, Sharad Yadav has decided to hold a national seminar against communalism in New Delhi on August 17, two days ahead of the JD-U national executive meeting in Patna.
Nitish Kumar, who is also JD-U president, has called a meeting of the party national executive meeting in Patna. Earlier it was scheduled to be held in Delhi but the venue was changed due to the political developments last week.
Most of the senior leaders of the Congress, the Left parties and other regional parties are likely to attend the seminar against communalism to express solidarity with Sharad Yadav.
In fact, over a dozen senior JD-U leaders including the party's state presidents from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, Gujarat and Rajasthan have already expressed their displeasure by writing a letter to Nitish Kumar over his decision to form the government with BJP support.
Sharad Yadav, one of the few veterans of socialist politics, has made it clear that he will not change his stand.
Two Rajya Sabha MPs of the JD-U -- Ali Anwar Ansari and Virender Kumar -- have also voiced their opposition to Kumar's decision. Both are in close touch with Sharad Yadav in Delhi, as have several party MLAs and MLCs from Bihar.
"Sharad Yadav was deeply hurt by Nitish Kumar's decision, taken without consulting the senior party leaders at a time when opposition unity was to be strengthened against the BJP. He felt ignored and is likely to take a final stand soon," another JD-U leader said.
