The senior Janata Dal (United) leader wants to make himself relevant. Thus, his outburst
Senior Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav is unhappy with colleague Nitish Kumar's decision to re-align with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA. Sharad Yadav is a veteran politician and an important member of the party, and he has every right to feel upset and vent his ire. Needless to add, he has the right also to address his grievance in the way he deems fit — whether through remaining in the party or exiting. Those are personal choices and we will have to wait and see what steps he takes. But the basic premise of his objection to the new alliance is not firm. His observation is that Nitish Kumar has betrayed the people's mandate of 2015, which was for the JD(U)-Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress Government in Bihar. It is true that the Assembly election mandate was in favour of the grand alliance led by Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister. But the people had certainly not voted for a Government which would tolerate corruption. More so, they had voted for the alliance in the belief that Nitish Kumar would, if occasion demanded, demonstrate his commitment to zero tolerance for graft. When Cabinet Minister Tejashwi Yadav got embroiled in a corruption case and was being probed by Central agencies, the Chief Minister asked him to publicly explain his innocence. No such explanation came forth. On the contrary, the RJD, of which Tejashwi Yadav is a leader, took a belligerent position by saying that its leader would not quit the ministry, come what may. Nitish Kumar gave him a long rope and even requested the Congress to make Tejashwi Yadav see reason. But when nothing worked, the Chief Minister put in his papers, secured the support of the NDA and returned to power within hours of quitting. Sharad Yadav ought to realise that Nitish Kumar would have lost credibility had he continued with the RJD in such a situation. And not just Nitish Kumar, but the JD(U) too would have suffered a loss of face. Sharad Yadav has sought to make light of the accusations of corruption against the RJD leaders but his arguments have little merit as they are bereft of logic.
The Bihar developments came as an excuse for Sharad Yadav to open a front against Nitish Kumar. On previous occasions too, he has not been on the same page. As party president, he was a figurehead, with Nitish Kumar in full control — and it rankled. When Nitish Kumar had openly complimented Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the demonetisation decision, Sharad Yadav maintained his silence. When the JD(U), prodded by Nitish Kumar, backed the NDA's presidential candidate and broke ranks with the rest of the Opposition, Sharad Yadav sulked. It is this marginalisation that has made the senior JD(U) leader to speak out against Nitish Kumar. But, unlike Nitish Kumar, Sharad Yadav does not have a grassroots image which he can bank upon. He has three options before him. The first is to remain in the party and either be of nuisance value or make peace with Nitish Kumar. The second is that he breaks away and joins either the Congress or lalu Prasad's RJD. And the third is that he floats his own outfit and aligns with the Congress-led UPA.