In a jolt to the BJP-led coalition in the State, the Janata Dal (United) led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will not be a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Kerala.
Chief general secretary and national spokesperson K.C. Tyagi told The Hindu over phone from Delhi on Monday that the JD(U) Kerala unit did not agree with the polices raised by the BJP leadership in the State.
“Our party is a product of the socialist movement. We cannot accept the decisions of the BJP in Kerala,” he said.
Mr. Tyagi said that the BJP might be growing in the State but not in terms of electoral gains.
“So the JD(U) in Kerala will remain an independent entity without joining either of the two other coalitions, the LDF or the UDF,” he said. His party was busy organising district-level conventions in the State, he added. However, the new party president would be given a free hand to take a decision on the 100 elected representatives of the JD(U) in local bodies.
“All of them have been elected on the JD(U) ticket and if they switch over to the party led by Sharad Yadav, they will have to face the anti-defection law. The party president can take up the issue with the State Election Commission,” he said.
The JD(U) in the State led by M.P. Veerendrakumar, which has formally severed its ties with the Opposition UDF and decided to enter the LDF, will be part of the new party to be floated by JD(U) factional leader Sharad Yadav.
“Sharad Yadav has moved the Election Commission of India on the formation of a new party — Loktantrik Janata Dal (Democratic Janata Party). Its maiden national council will be held in Delhi in March, ” JD (U) State secretary general Sheikh P. Haris said.
He said that the LDF leadership would take a final decision on the entry of the new party into the alliance soon after the State conferences of the CPI(M) and the CPI.
“ No discussion has taken place on the Rajya Sabha seat relinquished by Veerendrakumar,” Mr. Haris said.
