NDA allies Sena, SAD call JD(U) pullout unfortunate

Shiv Sena and SAD--the two remaining non-BJP constituents now left in the NDA-- today described as unfortunate JD(U) pullout from the alliance, calling it a decision taken in haste.
Shiv Sena, which has 11 Lok Sabha seats, also felt that the JD(U) decision will benefit the Congress.
Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP, said the JD(U) decision to break away from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is unfortunate and has been taken in a haste.
He said NDA will be at a loss and the decision it will benefit the Congress.
"If my party wants, I am willing to speak to JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav," Raut told reporters in Mumbai.

"Today not only the alliance has broken, but our hearts are broken," he added.
SAD MP Naresh Gujral said the NDA has been certainly fractured but claimed it is a "temporary setback". The SAD(Shiromani Akali Dal) has four Lok Sabha MPs.
Gujral expressed confidence that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar along with Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, whose parties were once NDA constituents--will return to the alliance and give the nation a stable government after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.