Former Union Minister and parliamentarian Sharad Yadav on Sunday announced that his political front Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) had merged with the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) amid speculation that Lalu may send him to the Rajya Sabha on RJD’s symbol. The tenure of five members of Rajya Sabha from Bihar will complete in June this year.
“The merger of our party with the RJD is the first step towards opposition unity. It’s imperative that the whole opposition gets united across India to defeat the BJP. As of now, unification is our priority, it’ll be only after that we will think about who’ll lead the united opposition,” Sharad Yadav said.
The two leaders were seen as rivals in the politics of cow belt since the late 1990s and faced each other in the Lok Sabha elections from Madhepura seat in Bihar. In the run-up to the merger, Sharad Yadav claimed that both the leaders were working behind the scenes for a few months to create a larger socialist bloc for the 2024 general elections.
Yadav added: “This step (merger) has been necessitated as an initiative of my regular efforts for bringing together the scattered Janata Dal parivar in view of the current political situation in the country.”
Political analysts and observers feel that it’s just an attempt by both leaders to show unity and nothing much. “The era of so-called Mandal politics has ended now. No social group in Bihar or Uttar Pradesh is going to accept the leadership of the dominant Yadav community. We have seen the results of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar Assembly polls in the last one-and-a-half years. Lalu Yadav will use Sharad Yadav. I don’t think, RJD would have forgotten that it was Sharad Yadav who played an important role in fodder scam cases against Lalu,” said Binod Kumar Choudhary, a social scientist based in Patna.
Sharad Yadav, who first fought the 1974 by-election from Jabalpur Lok Sabha segment in Madhya Pradesh as the candidate of Jai Prakash Narayan, had shifted his political loyalties many times in his 48-year-old career.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav welcomed the move and urged all the opposition parties in the country to stand united, adding that it is imperative for the Opposition to prioritize unification to defeat the BJP.
Tejashwi said: “The decision (merging of LJD into RJD) taken by Sharad Yadav was the demand of the people. It has given a message to other opposition parties that we should have united in 2019 but it’s better late than never. What Sharadji has done is now written forever. It is great to see both the brothers together on the stage.”