Patna: Former national president of JDU and veteran socialist leader, Sharad Yadav will formally rejoin RJD and get his Loktantrik Janata Dal(LJD) merged with RJD headed by Lalu Prasad on March 20.
Sharad Yadav informed the leader of opposition, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav that his party would formally merge with RJD after Holi vacations. He said he handed over his political legacy to Tejashwi who was competent to lead the Socialist movement.
Tejashwi and RJD member in Rajya Sabha, Manoj Kumar Jha had met Sharad Yadav at his New Delhi residence where Tejashwi is understood to have given an assurance to the veteran leader that he would be one of the two RJD nominees for the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled in June. Five vacancies to the Upper House would be filled up with BJP and RJD sending two each and JDU one member.
After return from New Delhi, Tejashwi said Sharad was a veteran leader and contemporary of his father,he had worked with Lalu Prasad.He claimed Sharad Yadav told him that he (Tejashwi) was competent to lead the party to greater heights.
Sharad Yadav is seven times member to Lok Sabha and thrice elected to Rajya Sabha. He represented Madhepura constitutency of Mandal Commission fame, B P Mandal in 1991,96,99 and 2009. He was once defeated by Lalu Prasad Yadav in 2004 and in 2014 by Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav. He represented constitutencies in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh too.
In 1997 due to a contest between Lalu Prasad and Sharad in the elections to Janata Dal president, Sharad was ousted from party and Lalu formed RJD. Janata Dal merged with Samta Party floated by Nitish Kumar and Sharad became the first president of JDU .
Following differences with Nitish Kumar over JDU joining hands with the BJP in 2018,Sharad was expelled from JDU when Nitish Kumar took over the presidentship and Sharad formed a new party-LJD.
Nitish got him disqualified under the anti-defection law which Sharad challenged in Supreme Court,which allowed Sharad to retain his Tughlak Road bungalow till disposal of the petition,
In the 2020 assembly elections,his party entered into electoral alliance with the Congress party and his only daughter, Subhasini Raj Rao unsucessfully contested the elections as Congress candidate from Madhepura.
Now,with Tejashwi being declared his political heir,his daughter, Subhasini will follow the young RJD leader in politics and Sharad would re-enter Rajya Sabha courtesy Lalu.
