Dissent in JD(U) grows after Nitish joins NDA

NEWDELHI: A storm is brewing in the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), and it’s threatening to make the going tough for Bi h ar chief minister Nitish Kumar.

As many as 12 presidents of state units across the country have asked party founder and former president Sharad Yadav to convene a national convention for discussing Kumar’s “unilateral decision” to align with the BJP after snapping ties with the Grand Alliance in Bihar late last month.

Yadav, who has termed Kumar’s decision as “unfortunate and unpleasant”, will begin touring Bihar from August 5 to get inputs from party leaders and workers. Later, on August 17, he will address a gathering under the Saajhi Viraasat (shared cultural heritage) banner in Delhi. Political leaders from “likeminded secular parties”, such as the Congress, C PI( M ), SP and the B SP, will attend the event. Y ad av, who was marginal is ed by Kumar over the years, has suddenly found himself representing a powerful voice.

With just a few years to go for the Lo kS ab ha polls, the“antiNi ti sh front” in the J D-U may not take the precipitous decision of quitting the party .“Rebel scan do a better job at damaging Nitish’s political prospects if they stay in the party and work against him ,” an inside source said.