In a bid to placate senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday spoke to him on phone and explained the need for joining hands with the BJP. Sources said that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has also spoken to Yadav in a bid to persuade him to continue to be part of the NDA.
While JD(U) leaders are hopeful that differences will be resolved, Sharad Yadav remained tight-lipped for third consecutive day about his future course of action. Two Rajya Sabha members, Ali Anwar and Veerendra Kumar, have openly opposed Kumar’s decision.
Yadav is the party’s leader in the RS where it has 10 MPs.
“Sharad Yadav had been working to forge a grand alliance of Opposition parties at the national level. He feels totally let down by Nitish’s move,” a leader close to Sharad said.
Sources said that in the new scheme of things following the JD(U) coming back to the NDA fold, feelers have been sent to Sharad Yadav for the post of Governor as his induction in the Cabinet is being ruled out due to the age factor. “We hope he (Sharad) may agree for the gubernatorial post because that will be apolitical and he will be free from his current ideological reservations,” said a source.
The former MP from Madhepura and a long standing Socialist leader, Sharad is believed to have reminded the Bihar CM that he had cautioned him against any a move which could be debilitating to the prospect of unifying the opposition against the BJP. Sources said that Sharad had also talked to RJD chief lalu Prasad overnight.
Sources said if by any chance Sharad Yadav makes a move against Nitish Kumar, the road ahead for him remains unclear. Sources also said he does not have enough support to split the party and the vote in the Bihar Assembly has shown that its MlAs are firmly behind Kumar.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury met the sulking JD(U) veteran. What transpired during their meeting was not immediately clear but sources said the former JD(U) president is “deeply unhappy” with Nitish Kumar’s return to the NDA fold. He was also said to be upset over not being taken into confidence by Kumar before he decided to align with the BJP.
Several groups of university students also met Yadav at his residence, urging him to not join the NDA and be part of a “secular” group.