Two big names of Bihar’s politics have reunited after 25 years. Former Union Minister Sharad Yadav on Sunday announced that his party Loktantrik Janata Dal has merged with Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal. However, the special thing is that since its formation in the year 2018, LJD has not contested any election.
News agency ANI quoted Sharad Yadav as saying, “The merger of our party with RJD is the first step towards opposition unity. It is imperative that the entire opposition across India comes together to defeat the BJP. For now, establishing unity is our priority. Only then we will think who will lead the opposition unity.
Earlier on Wednesday too, Yadav had said, ‘It is the need of the hour to establish a strong opposition in the country. And that’s why I decided to merge my party LJD with RJD. RJD leader and Leader of Opposition in Bihar Tejashwi Prasad Yadav had called Sharad like a father and said that everyone knows his importance in Indian politics.
The special thing is that Lalu and Sharad had a political face-off several times in a decades-long career. However, the closeness between the two leaders was seen from the time of Janata Dal. Lalu, currently serving a sentence in corruption cases, had shunned the Janata Dal in 1997 and formed the RJD. In 2005, Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav together won the Bihar elections and ousted the RJD from power.