Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar a few days back had filed a petition against Sharad Yadav seeking his disqualification from the upper house of the parliament. The political equations in Bihar are changing every day since Nitish broke the grand alliance with RJD-Congress and joined hands with BJP to form the new alliance in Bihar.
One of the founder members of the party, Sharad Yadav felt betrayed by Kumar’s decision and rebelled against the party. His supporters also followed him and Sharad claimed that the real JD(U) was with him and the JD(U) led by Nitish Kumar betrayed the mandate that supported him. Sharad also claimed that he will continue the alliance with RJD. Sharad had also filed a petition to the Election commission, seeking the right of the party symbol. However, his plea was denied as the required documents were not submitted.
A month earlier, Nitish led JD(U) had warned Sharad that if he crossed the red line by sharing the stage with the corrupt leaders, the party will have to take strict actions against him and he will be disqualified as a Rajya Sabha member. Despite the warning, Sharad had attended the meeting and hence the party taking action against him filed a petition seeking his disqualification from the upper house of the parliament.
According to the latest developments in the state, Nitish led JD(U) had filed a petition against Sharad Yadav under the anti-defection law and the 10th Schedule. Responding to this Sharad wrote to the Rajya Sabha Chairman, Venkaiah Naidu that the petition filed by Nitish is not only baseless but also non-maintainable.
His 202-page reply to the Chairman read that the petition filed by JD(U) did not fulfil relevant provisions of the anti-defection law and that the petition cannot be proceeded under the Tenth Schedule, when the core dispute for the party and its symbol is sub judice, pending before the Election Commission.
He further added that he did nothing that was against the party, in fact, the party forced him by breaking the alliance. He claimed that he was only following the party rules set by Nitish, of supporting the anti-BJP line. Supporting his statement he even attached recordings of speeches of Kumar, calling for, anti-BJP maha-gathbandhan. He said that instead, the JD(U) has gone against the rules of the party and joined hands with BJP.
Sharad also argued that before raising the question of voluntarily quitting the party, first this should be decided that who the party belongs to as the case is still pending before the election commission. He said that until the case of the right of the symbol is not cleared the petition filed by Nitish cannot be processed under the Tenth Schedule. He also claimed that majority if the party members supported him.
Attacking the Nitish camp, Yadav said “the goal of the Nitish faction to silence the deponent by invoking the Tenth Schedule reminds one of the famous words in the Shakespearean play Julius Caesar, uttered by the proponent when betrayed by his closest aides, ‘Et tu Brute’.
“The petition is not maintainable and fails to satisfy the pre-conditions mentioned in Rule 6 of the Disqualification Rules, 1985. The petition does not fulfil the pre-conditions of Rule 6, so it is liable to be dismissed under Rule 7(2),” the petition read.