The political turmoil set off by the break-up of the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar played out all day in Delhi, with senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav keeping away from his party president Nitish Kumar’s sixth stab at being Chief Minister .
Instead, he met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and disgruntled party MPs — Ali Anwar and M.P. Veerendra Kumar.
Questions on whether JD(U) MPs would be made ministers at the Centre and support to the NDA’s vice-presidential nominee M. Venkaiah Naidu hung in the air. The JD(U) had earlier promised support to the Opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi. Mr. Veerendra Kumar had already broken ranks with the JD(U) during the presidential polls.
During the presidential polls, Mr Veerendra Kumar had voted for the opposition candidate Meira Kumar and is well on his way to joining the ruling LDF in Kerala. Mr. Kumar reportedly told Mr Yadav that the JD(U) was committing a “historic blunder” by joining up with the BJP again.
Mr. Yadav had invited him to his residence in the evening along with Mr Anwar. Quite what transpired at that meeting wasn’t clear but it was enough for Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to contemplate a late evening meeting with Mr Yadav.
Sources say Mr. Yadav’s sulk could be just positioning for a situational advantage in the new coalition. He had been the NDA convenor earlier, and critics say he could be angling for a possible Cabinet berth.
“In the Cabinet reshuffle after the Monsoon Session, the JD(U) has been promised a Cabinet and a minister of state berth,” said a source close to the developments in the JD(U). Keeping Mr. Sharad Yadav happy is important as he could be instrumental in keeping the six Yadav and five Muslim MLAs in the JD(U) in line before the trust vote on Friday.
Mr. Yadav has often been Mr Nitish Kumar’s representative at meetings with other opposition parties. He was divested of the post of party president last year, but remains influential in some circles.
As for Mr Anwar, party MP R.C.P. Singh described his crisis of conscience in staying with the JD(U) after its tie up with BJP as laughable. “His first two terms in the Rajya Sabha were under the NDA banner,” he said, adding that Mr. Anwar may be worried about the possibilities of a third term.
The timing of the split in the Mahagathbandhan has however, put a question mark over the JD(U)’s declared support for Gopalkrishna Gandhi in the vice-presidential elections. Sources in Patna told The Hindu that a call on this would be taken only after the trust vote on Friday.
“We have however, announced support, and Mr Gandhi was Nitishji’s choice for presidential candidate as well. We might in fact stick to that,” the source said.
