The Janata Dal(United) unit in Kerala on Thursday opposed Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar for tying up with the BJP and announced it was severing ties with him. (Live updates)
The chief of the party’s Kerala unit, MP Veerendra Kumar, a Rajya Sabha member, told reporters in Delhi that he was even ready to quit the Upper House to pursue his fight against “fascist forces”.
“Whatever the price, we’re ready to pay,” he said.
“We are not accepting the JD(U) joining the NDA and our relations with Nitish Kumar have ended. It’s shocking that Nitish Kumar has joined the NDA. We all thought that he will fight the fascist tendencies but he has now become a part of it.”
Veerendra Kumar said he expected JD(U) senior leader Sharad Yadav and its MLAs in Bihar not to accept Nitish Kumar’s decision. “I call upon Sharad Yadav and JD(U) MLAs to say that we won’t accept it.”
He said he would go back to Kerala after the vice presidential election on August 5 and hold a meeting of the state council to decide the future course of action.
{{/usCountry}}He said he would go back to Kerala after the vice presidential election on August 5 and hold a meeting of the state council to decide the future course of action.
{{/usCountry}}Nitish Kumar broke ties with the RJD on Wednesday. A two-member Bihar cabinet of Nitish Kumar as chief minister and BJP’s Sushil Modi as his deputy was sworn in on Thursday morning.
The Kerala unit of the JD(U) has been upset ever since Nitish Kumar announced support to the NDA Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind, a former Bihar governor and now the President of the country.
Party leader Varghese George said in the Kerala capital that he and his colleagues do not approve of Nitish Kumar’s move.
Despite Nitish Kumar’s support to Kovind, Veerendra Kumar voted for UPA nominee Meira Kumar, who lost the Presidential battle.
The JD(U) has no member in the Kerala assembly. In Kerala, it is a part of the Congress-led United Democratic Front.
Veerendra Kumar badly lost from Palakkad in the 2014 Lok sabha polls. He has been contemplating returning to the Left fold. With Nitish Kumar embracing the BJP, that may happen soon.