We will stage 'dharna' over black money issue on Dec. 22: Nitish Kumar

Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) leader Nitish Kumar on Thursday said that during the meeting of leaders from six political parties, it was decided that they will collectively stage a 'dharna' on December 22 against the Central Government on the black money issue and on the issue of betraying farmers over the minimum support price.

"Today, in an initiative taken by Mulayam Singh Yadav, we held a meeting to carry forward the same thing. We decided that we will be united inside and outside the parliament. All the parties will collectively organise a day long 'dharna' on December 22 over the issue of black money and betrayal to farmers," Kumar said.

He said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not fulfill their promise of support price to the farmers.

"The BJP had promised farmers that they would give them a support price of 1.5 times the cost incurred by the farmer, this was not done. On the issue of black money, we will raise the question of 15 lakhs which they had promised to every indivisual, we will ask by when can we expect the government to fulfill its promise on black money," he added.

Earlier in the day, leaders of the erstwhile Janata Dal family, including Janata Dal (United), Janata Dal (Secular), Indian National Lok Dal, Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) met afternoon at SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav's residence to discuss the modalities for their merger and to create a new party with the objective of countering the policies of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA).