Sharad Yadav to hold meeting parallel to Nitish's in Patna

Senior JD-U leader and former party president Sharad Yadav will hold a parallel meeting in Patna on August 19 when the JD-U led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will be holding the party's national executive meeting here, a party leader said on Thursday.

"Sharad Yadav will not attend the JD-U national executive meeting on August 19 here, instead he, along with party's Rajya Sabha member Ali Anwar Ansari, will hold a 'Jan-Adalat Sammelan' the same day," a party leader close to Sharad Yadav said.

According to him, several JD-U leaders and hundreds of party workers from different parts of Bihar will participate in the Jan-Adalat Sammelan.

Sharad Yadav is also likely to soon announce his decision to attend Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad's August 27 rally against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Patna.

Earlier this week, the party suspended its 21 party leaders, including some former minister and former MLAs, for supporting former party chief Sharad Yadav during his three-day visit to the state.

Last Saturday, the JD-U removed Sharad Yadav -- who opposed the party's decision to ally with the BJP in Bihar -- as their leader in the Rajya Sabha and replaced him with R.C.P. Singh.

A day prior to that, the party had suspended its Rajya Sabha member Ali Anwar Ansari from the parliamentary party for attending a meeting of opposition parties convened by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday.

Sharad Yadav has voiced his opposition to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's decision to walk out of the Grand Alliance -- that comprised the JD-U, RJD and the Congress -- and join hands with the BJP to form the government in Bihar.

During his visit to seven Bihar districts, Sharad Yadav said the decision to join hands with the BJP was "unfortunate" and that the mandate given by the people was being violated.

"The trust of 11 crore people, who gave mandate to form the Grand Alliance government in Bihar, was broken. The agreement of 'gathbandhan' (Grand Alliance) was for five years but was broken... I am hurt by this. I continue to stand for the Grand Alliance," he said.

Sharad Yadav also claimed that the original party was with him.

--IANS

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