The Janata Dal (United) is set to elect a new president at its party executive here on April 10 after the incumbent and Rajya Sabha MP Sharad Yadav decided not to go in for a fourth consecutive term.
“Mr. Yadav as party president has completed his three successive terms. He has now refused to make any amendment to the party constitution so as to elect him for the next coming term,” party spokesperson K.C. Tyagi said in a statement.
“I didn’t think it was ethical for me to push for an amendment to the party constitution for a fourth term. I want the party to expand,” Mr. Yadav told media.
Top sources in the JD(U) Bihar unit said it could well be that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar himself takes on the mantle as party president in the run-up to the JD(U)’s merger with the Rashtriya Lok Dal in Uttar Pradesh. “At a meeting 10 days ago, where senior leaders of the party, including Mr. Kumar was present, this suggestion was made,” said the source. Mr. Yadav’s move to not push for a fourth term as president is seen as a trade-off to getting a repeat nomination to the Rajya Sabha when five seats from Bihar are coming up for elections, two of which fall in the JD(U)’s kitty.