Patna: Ahead of the national executive committee meeting of the Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)), the two factions of the party - one led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the other by former party president Sharad Yadav - have put up striking publicity material in Patna, leading up to a poster war in the city.
Incidentally, both factions claim to be the "real JD(U)".
The poster put up by Sharad Yadav's faction showcases him with "Jan Adalat ka Faisla - Mahagathbandhan jari hai (decision of the people's court - the grand alliance continues)" written on it.
Sharad Yadav faction poster in Bihar. (Photo: ANI)
The other has Nitish with party leaders - state JD(U) chief Basistha Narayan Singh, RCP Singh and others. "Nitish Kumar hi zindabad (hail only Nitish Kumar)," says the poster.
Sharad Yadav was sacked as JD(U)'s Rajya Sabha leader when he made his chagrin against Nitish Kumar snapping ties with the Lalu Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and forging an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to form the next government in Bihar, quite evident.
Yadav also asserted that Nitish's flip-flop, as far as his views on the BJP were concerned, was an insult to the 2015 mandate of the people given to the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ and that he was still a part of the grand alliance in the state.
In the aftermath, the Nitish-led JD(U) even suspended 21 party leaders for participating in Yadav's recent three-day ‘Jan Samwad Yatra’, wherein he interacted with the people of the state, indicative of a widening rift in the party.
Lalu Yadav had also come out in support of Sharad Yadav, leading up to the Nitish faction, reportedly, warning the latter that if he attended the August 27 ‘Desh Bachao, BJP Bhagao’ rally of the former, he would be sacked from the party.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, Nitish will be chairing the national executive meeting of the party, while Sharad Yadav will hold a parallel convention in the state under the title 'Jan Adalat'.
