The Rajya Sabha secretariat has asked JD(U) rebel MPs Sharad Yadav and Ali Anwar to respond within a week to a petition by the Nitish Kumar-led party that they be disqualified from the Upper House for their “anti-party” activities.
After Mr Sharad Yadav opposed party president Nitish Kumar's decision to ally with the BJP and attended an opposition rally in Patna, the JD(U) first removed him as the party leader in the Rajya Sabha. After that, it urged Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to disqualify him and fellow rebel, Mr Ansari.
Pointing to a past precedent, JD(U) general secretary Sanjay Jha cited the example of Jai Narain Prasad Nishad, a BJP MP who had move towards the RJD.
“We have given documentary and other evidence of both the leaders' anti-party activities,”he said, adding, “That they have defied the party leadership and gone to the Election Commission seeking its symbol, is also anti-party activity.”
Recently touring Bihar, Mr Sharad Yadav said he is still part of the grand alliance, which includes the RJD and the Congress, and had accused Mr Kumar of going against the party's resolution by allying with the BJP.
Claiming to represent the real JD(U), his faction has also approached the EC, seeking its symbol.
