The Janata Dal (United) had not yet taken any decision on joining the Narendra Modi government, a senior leader said here today, days after the party found no representation in the third reshuffle of the Union cabinet.
The rejig had turned out to be an all-BJP affair, as against the speculation that the JD(U), the latest partner of the saffron party, would get representation in the central government.
“Our party has not taken a decision on joining the Union cabinet. Our party president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will take a call on this,” JD(U) national general secretary Akhilesh Katiyar told reporters.
Interestingly, after the reshuffle, JD(U) spokesperson K C Tyagi had said his party was not invited to join the government.
Katiyar also said JD(U) rebel and Rajya Sabha MP Sharad Yadav would be stripped off all the responsibilities shortly.
Yadav had raised a banner of revolt after Nitish broke off the Bihar “mahagathbandhan” (grand alliance), also comprising the RJD and Congress, midway and joined hands with the BJP to form a new government in the state.
Yadav, a former JD(U) president, often terms the Nitish- led faction of the party as the “sarkari” JD(U).
However, Katiyar said the party under Nitish was the “real” JD(U).
“The Election Commission has already junked the plea of the Sharad Yadav camp in this regard,” he said, referring to the poll panels recent decision to reject the claim of the Yadav faction over the JD(U)s poll symbol for lack of evidence.
However, the Yadav faction filed a fresh claim before the EC on September 14, staking claims over the partys symbol and sought four weeks time to submit the relevant documents.
Responding to a query on whether Yadav was enjoying a good support in the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, Katiyar said the JD(U) was not bothered about who joined hands with the rebel leader.
He also said Kumars decisions to quit the NDA ahead of the 2015 Bihar polls and join hands with the saffron camp again after a couple of years were “right, given the different political scenarios prevalent on the two separate occasions”.
