Now, Nitish camp of JD (U) blames Sonia for creating ‘rift’ within the party

The Nitish Kumar camp has blamed Sonia Gandhi for rift within the party.

Patna, August 11: The Janata Dal (United) (JD (U)) which is running a coalition government with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar is clearly in disarray.

Instead of looking inward to solve their muddle, party leaders, belonging to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar camp, have started blaming other political parties for their own problems.

Senior JD (U) leader, KC Tyagi, who belongs to the CM's camp, blamed Congress president Sonia Gandhi for creating rift within the party.

"Sonia Gandhi ji by inviting the JD (U) to the opposition meeting today is trying to create a rift within our party," Tyagi was quoted as saying by ANI.

Leaders of 18 opposition parties led by Congress president will meet to chalk out a common strategy to corner the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government on a range of issues in the national capital on Friday.

An invite has been sent to leaders of opposition parties, including JD (U)'s Sharad Yadav by leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad on behalf of the Congress chief.

By now, it is clear that Yadav, who is openly criticising the Bihar CM for joining hands with the BJP, is not interested to be a part of the new alliance government in the state. There are also several JD (U) leaders who are against the JD (U) chief Kumar, but are yet to openly defy him.

Since the time, Bihar CM decided to switch sides and align with the BJP to form a fresh government in the state, Yadav, the former president of the JD (U), has been openly criticising the saffron party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On Thursday, Yadav told reporters that he would undertake a yatra (tour) across the state to speak to the voters. He added that he was still with the Mahagathbandan (Grand Alliance).

"We have formed the Mahagathbandan for five years. Kumar has broken the trust of 11 crore people of Bihar," said the senior leader. Reports added that the JD (U) is likely to take disciplinary action against Yadav who is openly criticising the CM, the current party chief.

He might be removed from the party too. In that scenario, Yadav will form his own party.

Joining the debate over the rift within the JD (U), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) came out in support of Yadav. "Yadav ji is the founder of the JD (U). Kumar's coronation was done by Yadav ji, so a son can't challenge his father," said RJD leader Bhai Virendra.

On Friday, the Kumar camp of the JD (U) also said that action would be taken against another "rebel" leader Ali Anwar.

"We are aware of Anwar's stand. He is involved in anti-party activities. We will act against leaders who go against our chief's decision," said VN Singh, a leader of the JD (U).

A few days ago, Yadav told reporters that Kumar by siding with the BJP has insulted the people of Bihar as the mandate was for the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) and against the communal forces during the 2015 Bihar Assembly elections.

The Grand Alliance was formed by the JD (U) along with the RJD and the Congress ahead of the polls to fight against the might of the BJP. The Grand Alliance formula proved successful as it came to power with a huge mandate.

However, fissures within the Grand Alliance started showing after a series of corruption charges were levelled against RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members.

Kumar and his supporters claimed that the CM was forced to walk out of the Grand Alliance as he can't tolerate corruption. The RJD and the Congress criticised Kumar for aligning with communal forces and breaking the alliance in the name of fighting corruption.

OneIndia News