Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in September had filed a petition against Sharad Yadav seeking his disqualification from the upper house of the parliament.
Tensions were building up between Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav since the later rebelled against the party and claimed that the real JD(U) was with him. Nitish Kumar in July broke the grand alliance with RJD and Congress to join hands with BJP and form the new government in Bihar. On this decision of Kumar, Sharad felt ac stabbed and rebelled against the party claiming that he would continue the grand alliance and that the real JD(U) was with him.
Following open criticism by Sharad, the JD(U) had expelled Sharad Yadav and replaced RCP Singh to be the leader of the parliamentary party in the Rajya Sabha. The party had also issued a warning to the rebel leader that if he shared the stage with corrupt leaders he will also have to lose his seat as the Rajya Sabha member, to which Sharad turned a blind eye.
Nitish led JD(U) had filed a petition in Sep against Sharad Yadav under the anti-defection law and the 10th Schedule, responding to which Sharad wrote to the Rajya Sabha Chairman, Venkaiah Naidu that the petition filed by Nitish is not only baseless but also non-maintainable.
However, Venkaiah Naidu had asked Sharad to appear before him in person on October 30 with regard to the petition filed against his disqualification from the upper house of the Parliament. Though Sharad had submitted a 202-page reply to the Chairman reading 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 was still asked to appear in person giving him the opportunity to represent his case and offer a defence before any decision was taken regarding the matter.
As per the latest updates, Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has given Sharad Yadav 10 more days to personally offer his defense. In his statement to the press, Sharad Yadav on Thursday said that “The Chairman has asked me to appear before him in person on November 8. He has also told me that I would not get any other extension.”
According to the sources, Sharad might take a lawyer with him to strengthen his arguments at the final hearing.
In mid-Oct it was decided that Venkaiah Naidu will take over the matter of the disqualification as MP’s, of rebel JD(U) leaders Sharad Yadav and Ali Anwar, rather than passing the matter to the Parliamentary Committee on Privileges. This decision was taken as JD(U) under the leadership of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had demanded that the decision of the lawmakers’ disqualification should not be delayed by sending it to the parliamentary panel.
However, some senior Congress leaders had in private suggested to the Chairman that he refer the complaint to the Committee on Ethics for a preliminary inquiry, but Naidu paid no attention to it. He had argued that “The committee route had been bypassed because it had been felt that there was nothing to investigate as in a case of corruption or unethical conduct. The JD(U) rift was public and Yadav’s action had to be weighed in light of relevant rules.”