JD(U) MP refuses to continue under Nitish, resigns from Rajya Sabha

Veerendra Kumar merged his party with the Janata Dal (United) in 2014

Kerala JD(U) president M P Veerendra Kumar on Wednesday announced his decision to resign from the Rajya Sabha.

Kumar said he did not want to continue as the Member of Parliament of the party led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Veerendra Kumar, the chairman and managing director of the Malayalam daily newspaper Mathrubhumi, is also a director in PTI.

'I have taken a decision to resign from Rajya Sabha. I do not wish to continue as RS member under Mr Nitish Kumar who joined sangh parivar', he told reporters.

Kumar was elected to the Rajya Sabha in March 2016.

"I have already communicated the decision to Mr Nitish Kumar", he said.

Asked when he will put in his papers, Kumar said 'I will let you (media) know'.

On his plans, Kumar said: "First we will discuss the party's future in the state committee and decide further course of action."

He said the Bihar Chief Minister told him not to resign and that he considers him as one of the tall socialist leaders in the country.

"But I have conveyed my decision to Mr Nitish Kumar and party", he said.

JD(U) is presently a partner in the Congress-led UDF Opposition in Kerala.

Kumar joined the UDF fold after snapping ties with CPI-M led ruling LDF over differences on Kozhikode Lok Sabha seat with CPI-M in 2009.

Referring to reports that his decision to resign was the first move to return to ruling CPI-M led LDF fold in the state, Kumar said 'Now we are in UDF and we have not discussed the issue with LDF'.

However, Kumar said he had held talks with some of the leaders of JD(S), a partner in the LDF, in the state and that they expressed desire to work unitedly.

Kumar, who was the leader of the Socialist Janata (Democratic) party, merged it with the Janata Dal (United) in 2014.

He was a minister in the United Front government after being elected to the Lok Sabha in 1996 on the Janata Dal ticket.

He was in Janata Dal (Secular) headed by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda from 1999 to 2010.

Veerendra Kumar parted ways with the JD(S) and formed the Socialist Janata (Democratic) Party in 2010.