21 leaders belonging to the JDU including their Bihar state President and former minister were today suspended from the primary membership of the party by citing their indulgence in anti-party activities.
Recently we had reported how the war within the JD(U) was escalating after Nitish Kumar’s decision to sever ties with the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar and join hands with the BJP. Many leaders inside the party had reservations about this move including veteran leader and former party President Sharad Yadav.
Few examples of the dissent were, Sharad Yadav having a meeting with Rahul Gandhi in Delhi, MP Ali Anwar saying that his conscience did not allow him to support this decision and JD(U) from Gujarat Chhotubhai Vasava voting for Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha election.
All this seemed to have been spearheaded by Sharad Yadav who had also tried to corner the Modi government by peddling Congress’s “biggest scam of the century” theory and also backing Chhotubhai Vasava’s decision.
All this didn’t go unnoticed and Sharad Yadav was removed as the party’s leader in the Rajya Sabha by citing the reason to be anti-party activities. Further Rajya Sabha MP Ali Anwar who had made the conscience statement was suspended from the parliamentary party for attending an opposition meet.
The Nitish Kumar led party now seems to be clamping down even further on any sort of rebellion with the suspension of these 21 leaders:
According to the notice accessed by ANI, the state party President Vashistha Narayan Singh had suspended the 21 leaders which included former minister Ramai Ram, former MP Arjun Rai, former MLA Rajkishor Sinha. The notice was undersigned by state General Secretary Anil Kumar.
There was a bit of a comic moment an hour later when it was reported that the state party president who had suspended these leaders(according to the notice) was also suspended by the party:
#JUSTIN | Bihar JD(U) state president Vashistha Narayan Singh suspended
— Times of India (@timesofindia) August 14, 2017
These 21 suspended leaders had reportedly accompanied Sharad Yadav on his Bihar tour from 10-12 August. It remains to be seen if the party also takes such a serious step against Sharad Yadav in the coming days.
