Sharad's revolt against Nitish could split JD(U) and further disintegrate the Janata parivar
Daggers are drawn in the Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)]. The saga of the Janata parivar’s disintegration is likely to witness the addition of a new chapter in the days to come. Given the parivar’s history, it’s no surprise that the threat of a further fragmentation is coming from within its own stables. It’s the old warhorse, Sharad Yadav, one of the principal architects of the JD(U) some 15 years ago, who is now out challenging Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s authority over the party. Yadav is peeved over Kumar’s unilateral decision to quit the mahagathbandhan and join hands again with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the Government in Bihar. After all, the mahagathbandhan, comprising the JD(U), lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress, was formed to take on the might of a rampaging BJP that has been sweeping State after State. In doing so, Yadav is claiming the support of the party’s 14 State units and asserting his grouping to be the real JD(U). Kumar has removed Yadav as the party’s parliamentary leader in the Rajya Sabha and sacked 21 of his loyalists from the JD(U) for anti-party activities. Interestingly, Yadav is backed by lalu Prasad, with whom he had locked horns in the mid 90s for supremacy over the then Janata Dal. Yadav had gone on to join hands with Kumar to form the JD(U) and the duo ousted lalu Prasad from power in Bihar, only to become friends with him later on to counter the BJP. They got a drubbing in the 2014 lok Sabha poll but avenged the defeat in Assembly election. The Sharad-Nitish-lalu trio co-existed for a while before Kumar dumped lalu Prasad and lost support of Yadav. And lalu Prasad lost no time in supporting Yadav.
That’s one complex history of friendships, opportunisms, treacheries and power struggles between the friends-turned-foes-turned-friends-turned-foes-turned… It’s an inherent trait of the Janata parivar. Not just the JD(U) and the RJD, the Samata Party, the Biju Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party, the Janata Dal (Secular), the Rashtriya lok Dal, the lok Janshakti Party, the Indian National lok Dal, the Janata Party and the Samajwadi Janata Party all were born due to personal aspirations and ambitions of parivar stalwarts. In the JD(U), despite Yadav’s presence, Kumar called the shots and gained a stranglehold over the party by keeping the veteran engaged in national politics in Delhi. The fact that none of the party’s 70-odd MlAs sided with Yadav, when he embarked on a three-day tour to Bihar, to connect with the masses and denounce Kumar’s decision to align with the BJP, shows Kumar’s clout. But Yadav is now likely to be more active in Bihar politics and that should be a matter of concern for Kumar. Especially since lalu Prasad too is out to get back at him. The latest battle for supremacy between Yadav and Kumar may lead to a split in the JD(U) and give birth to a new socialist offspring — the parivar’s most consistent contribution to India’s political history.