Sans flag, symbol and name, six regional outfits of the erstwhile Janata Parivar came together on Wednesday to give birth to a new party that would test its political might in the Bihar Assembly polls six months from now.
Janata Dal (U) chief Sharad Yadav announced the merger in the presence of Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, who will head the new outfit, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda and RJD supremo lalu Prasad. INlD chief Abhay Chautala and Samajwadi Janata Party chief Kamal Morarka too were present on the occasion.
“It’s a historic decision... We have united and we assure the people that this will be a strong bond. We will respect the feelings of people,” Mulayam said. He said a new national party was needed to take on the Narendra Modi Government which had “failed” in fulfilling any of its big promises made during the elections.
Sharad Yadav said a six-member committee will decide on the name of the new party, its symbol, flag and other details. The committee will include Deve Gowda, lalu, Om Prakash Chautala, Sharad, Ram Gopal Yadav and Kamal Morarka. Sharad also stated that Mulayam will be the head of the parliamentary party of the new outfit. Six of its constituents merged almost two decades after the disintegration of the Janata Dal.
“We have merged,” Sharad told reporters at the residence of Mulayam where all the leaders met for almost one-and-half hour. Mulayam’s brother, Ram Gopal Yadav, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP, was not present at the meeting since he has expressed his reservations on the merger plan. Mulayam’s brother Shivpal Yadav, a Cabinet Minister in the Akhilesh Yadav Government in Uttar Pradesh, was present. The crucial decision comes ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections where Nitish and his one-time bête noire lalu will take on a resurgent BJP, which had routed them in the lok Sabha elections in 2014. The SP-ruled Uttar Pradesh goes to polls in 2017.
“This is an arrogant Government. For the first time we have a Government at the Centre which does not consult Opposition parties. They made all sorts of promises. What happened to themIJ Rs 15 lakh promised, 24-hour electricity, jobs for unemployed youths... Where are theseIJ” Mulayam asked at the joint Press conference, also hinting that the media was also not happy with the Government and promised to help them.
On the occasion lalu said: “All of us, including Nitish and me have shed our egos to forge an alliance against communal forces. No ego anymore”. lalu said they have come together to “destroy communal forces”, and added that Bihar elections would see the beginning of the end of BJP across the country. After forming the Government in 1989 under the leadership of VP Singh, the then Janata Dal had split and one after another its regional satraps like Mulayam, Deve Gowda, Nitish and lalu formed their own outfits.
At present, the SP has five members in the lok Sabha followed by RJD with four MPs while JD(U), JD(S) and INlD each has two legislators, giving the grouping a total of 15 members in the lower House. In Rajya Sabha too, SP leads the pack with 15 members while JD(U) has 12 and INlD, JD(S) and RJD one MP each. Their total number in the Upper House is 30.