Amid factional feud in the party that erupted after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar broke away from the Grand Alliance and joined hands with the BJP, the JD(U) today suspended 21 leaders from the state over anti-party activities.
The party’s state president Vashistha Narayan Singh released the list of 21 members who have been removed their primary memberships, reports ANI.
According to NDTV, among the leaders suspended are Mr Arjun Rai, a former MP from Sitamarhi.
The report has come within days after the party removed Rajya Sabha member and senior leader Sharad Yadav, who opposed the party's decision to ally with the BJP, as their leader in the House.
Advertisement
The party had also suspended its Rajya Sabha member Ali Anwar Ansari from the parliamentary party after he attended a meeting of opposition parties convened by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
Since then, factionalism in JD(U) has deepened as those who are supporting Yadav said that they are set to present themselves as the "real" JD(U) claiming that 14 state units of the party are with them.
Two Rajya Sabha members, Ali Anwar Ansari and M P Veerendra Kumar, are seen to be with Yadav in his fight against Kumar.
"We will not leave the party. Nitish Kumar himself says that the party does not exist outside Bihar. Then he should form a new party for Bihar. He should not try to capture the JD(U) which always had a national presence," Arun Shrivastava, a close aide of Yadav, had said.
