JDU leader Uday Narayan Chaudhary quits party

Senior Janata Dal (United) leader and former speaker of Bihar assembly, Uday Narayan Chaudhary on Wednesday quit the party, citing Nitish Kumar's failure to check atrocities against Dalits.

Choudhary, who hails from the Dalit community has been raising issues of reservation and alleging government inaction against injustice with Dalits.

"From now onwards I'm no longer associated with the JD(U) in any way... I am hurt over Nitish Kumar-led NDA government's anti-Dalit approach," Chaudhary said.

"The government recently stopped scholarship for Dalit students, kept silence over SC/ST Atrocities Act and reservation for Dalits in promotion of their services... the government is also keeping mum over reservation of Dalits in judiciary... the attacks on Dalits too have increased in the State", charged Chaudhary. "But, the party [JD(U)] is promoting only capitalists", he alleged further.

Chaudhary, who has been critical of his own party had said he was ready to face action as there was no essence of democratic values left in the party organisation.

He said he would now openly raise his voice against what he called were the anti-people policies of Nitish government in the state and Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

Chaudhary has been raising issues of reservation and injustice with Dalits for which his party had warned of strict action.

Choudhary served as the speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly for ten years, from 2005-2015.

He was also fielded by the party as its candidate in the Jamui Lok Sabha constituency in the 2014 Indian general election.

Considered an ardent supporter of former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Choudhary had garnered heavy criticisms for his decision in February 2014 to notify a group of 13 Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLAs as a separate entity, without verifying their signatures to facilitate their merger into the JD(U).