Faced with an existential and ideological crisis following party president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s decision to ally with the BJP-led NDA, the Kerala unit of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) has begun efforts to get back to the CPI(M)-led lDF.

The CPI(M) heading the ruling lDF and CPI, its second major constituent, has expressed willingness to welcome the JD(U)’s move to leave the Congress-led Opposition UDF of which it has been a partner for the past eight years. According to sources, a final decision on JD(U)’s return to the left front can be expected by mid-December.

The main plan of the JD(U) is said to reconstitute its earlier Avatar Socialist Janata-Democratic (SJ-D) and broaden its base by bringing to its side some heavyweights of the Janata Dal –Secular (JD-S), an lDF constituent, from which it had split away some eight years back and thus pave the way for getting re-inducted into the left front.

As per reports, talks have already been held in this regard but there are differences within the JD(S) overt this. The other option before the JD(U) is to reconstitute the SJ-D and then get back into the lDF after merging it with the JD(S). According to sources, the party’s lDF entry may become a reality soon if an understanding on seats in elections could be reached at.

While speaking to newsmen in Kozhikode on Wednesday, State JD(U) president MP Veerendra Kumar gave indications of a plan to leave the UDF but said no discussions had so far been held about this and about joining the left front. However, he said he had already decided to resign as Rajya Sabha member, a position he had got by being part of the JD(U), now led by Nitish Kumar.

Stating that the JD(U) was facing a serious crisis in the national level due to Nitish Kumar’s act of joining hands with the BJP, Veerendra Kumar said the party’s Kerala unit was presently with Sharad Yadav. The Kerala JD(U) — with its socialist and secular tradition — could not support Nitish Kumar and the Sangh Pariwar, he said.

“Presently we are an ally of the UDF. No discussions have so far been held (over the idea of joining the left front). I now feel that we should have stayed on as Socialist Janata-Democratic. It seems that the decision to merge the SJ-D with the JD(U) was one of the most serious accidents in my political life,” Veerendra Kumar said.

A section of the Kerala JD-S led by Veerendra Kumar and several senior socialists left the lDF in 2009 protesting against the CPI(M)’s act of unilaterally taking over the Kozhikode seat, which the JD(S) used to contest, in the lok Sabha election held that year. This section christened itself as SJ-D and later became a partner of the Congress-led UDF.

The SJ-D merged with the JD-U at a function held on December 28, 2014 at Thrissur which was attended by Sharad Yadav and Nitish Kumar. The JD(U) contested seven seats for the UDF in the 2016 Assembly elections and lost them all. This and the victory of the JD(S) in three of the five seats it contested for the lDF caused a serious setback for the JD(U).

Veerendra Kumar said that talks on cooperation had been held with two of the three JD(S) legislators, K Krishnan Kutty and CK Nanu and that they were supportive of the idea but the proposal was to merge his party with their organization. However, he had not been able to talk with the third MlA, Water Resources Minister Mathew T Thomas, he said.

State CPI(M) secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said that the lDF had never closed its doors to Veerendra Kumar’s party and that he should do a serious re-think on the alliance with the UDF and return to the lDF. State CPI secretary Kanam Rajendran said his party welcomed Veerendra Kumar’s party’s plan to return to the left front.