JD(U) to merge with BJP, claims Tejashwi Yadav

Amidst the raging controversy over the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Bihar, and the possibility of the renaming of the ruling Janata Dal (United) to Janata Dal-Nitish, Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday reiterated that JD(U) would now “merge” with the BJP, and that JD(U)’s national working president has been facilitating all this “merger”.

“JD(U)’s inability yet to come out with a clear stand on the UCC is proof enough what holds for the party in coming days. I’ve been saying again and again that JD(U) is a B-team of BJP and now I’m saying that the party will merge with the BJP in days to come”, reiterated the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, while speaking to media persons in Patna. Earlier, we had said that Nitish Kumar “will not be allowed to remain the Chief Minister of the State and see what happened, he is not the Chief Minister of the State”, he added.

Meanwhile, after the controversy over the implementation of the UCC in the State, following the recent statement made by senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah that “UCC will now be implemented in all 21-BJP ruled States by 2029”, ruling ally JD(U) has called a meeting of all party leaders in Patna on Friday (September 18). Though political experts said the party would discuss these raging issues in the meeting, JD(U) leaders said that it would be the party’s “orientation and training programmes for lawmakers”. Experts from outside the State have been invited for this, said the party’s national working president, Sanjay Kumar Jha. Earlier, JD(U) leaders like Shrawan Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary had said that the party would study the provisions of the UCC first and Mr Jha “would hold talks with union Home Minister Amit Shah over this”. However, ruling JD(U) leader Shyam Rajak had first asserted that “UCC will not be implemented in Bihar, at any cost”.

Opposition RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav too reiterated the same, saying, “UCC will not be allowed to be implemented in Bihar”. The JD(U) has 85 MLAs in the State Assembly and 20 MLCs in the State Legislative Council, while the BJP has 88 MLAs in the State Assembly and 25 MLCs in the State Legislative Council. The ruling allies, JD(U) and BJP, have 12 MPs each from Bihar in the Lok Sabha. The Opposition RJD has 25 MLAs in the State Assembly and 15 MLCs in the State Legislative Council, while the party has a total of 4 MPs from the State.

“There must be something cooking up in State’s political circle so that the issue of renaming the JD(U) has suddenly raked-up and even supported by party leaders. I foresee a split in the party in future and in that situation Janata Dal-Nitish, instead of JD(U), will be merged with the BJP for the better political prospect of Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant Kumar”, said political expert Nawal Kishore Choudhary. “From the beginning we, the RJD, has been against implementation of UCC or any such code in the State…we’ll strongly oppose it,” Mr. Yadav said. RJD leader and legislator Bhai Virendra, earlier, even had called upon JD(U) and Nitish Kumar to “snap ties” with the BJP and re-join hands with the RJD to form a new government in Bihar. When asked in that situation “would Nishant Kumar, son of former CM Nitish Kumar, be the Chief Minister of Bihar?”, Bhai Virendra said, “whenever RJD would join hands with anyone, our party leader Tejashwi Yadav would be the Chief Minister”. The JD(U), though, had scoffed at the invitation of the RJD leader.