Sharad Yadav merges his party with RJD, seeks opposition unity

Former Union Minister and socialist leader Sharad Yadav merged his party Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on March 20, pitching for unity in Opposition ranks to take on the BJP.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav welcomed the veteran leader, who had fought some of the keenest Lok Sabha poll battles against his father Lalu Prasad Yadav in the 1990s, into his party’s fold, saying that it is a message for the anti-BJP parties to unite to take on the ruling dispensation.

Mr. Sharad Yadav (74) had been keeping low after battling health issues for months, and the development is seen as an effort to rehabilitate his colleagues and other associates as his party LJD could never become a serious force after being launched following his separation with JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

He had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election on the RJD ticket while his daughter had fought the 2020 Bihar Assembly poll as a nominee of the Congress, then an RJD ally.

Unity of Opposition parties is his priority, Mr. Sharad Yadav said in New Delhi, while lauding Mr. Tejashwi Yadav for leading the fight against the BJP-led NDA in Bihar.

Opposition parties should join hands nationwide to take on the BJP, he said.

“This step [merger] has been necessitated as an initiative of his regular efforts for bringing together scattered Janata parivar in view of the current political situation in the country,” he had earlier said in a statement, claiming the BJP Government has been a failure and people are looking for a strong Opposition.