The rebel Janata Dal(U) faction, led by Sharad Yadav, will shortly move the Election Commission (EC) to be recognised as a new party.
Arun Kumar Shrivastav, a former JD(U) general secretary and close aide of Mr. Yadav, said they will file an application with the Commission in a day or two and hold a convention after the results of the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh polls are announced on December 18.
Among the names the faction will seek for the new party are Samajwadi Janata Dal and Loktantrik Janata Dal.
The Yadav faction had earlier announced that it will form a party after the Gujarat polls, which it is fighting in an alliance with the Congress, after its claim over the JD(U) symbol was rejected last month.
The Election Commission recognised the faction led by Bihar Cief minister Nitish Kumar as the real JD(U) and accepted its claim over the ‘arrow’ symbol.
Mr. Yadav was recently disqualified from the Rajya Sabha after its Chairperson, M. Venkaiah Naidu, agreed to his party’s plea that he had “voluntarily given up” his membership by joining a rally of Opposition parties in August.
