Sharad aims to revive Janata unity

The newly-elected president of Janata Dal (United) Sharad Yadav today announced his intentions of reviving the old Janata Parivar even at the expense of its partner in the NDA, the BJP.

Yadav said his first priority as president of the party would be to "bring together the separate strands into which the party had broken" in Karnataka and Jharkhand, and also target the tribal belts of the BJP-ruled states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

"We are looking at expanding our base in districts like Jhabua, Banswara, Baruch and Chota Udaipur," he said.

In Madhya Pradesh, the party is considering a tie up with the Gondwana Gantantrik Party (GGP), which is putting up a candidate against Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan in the Budhni byelection. When asked whether this would strain relations between the two parties, Yadav replied in the negative.

"The alliance has not fought elections together in these states. We have a common programme as part of the NDA but are free to pursue our individual ideologies outside it," he said.

"In Karnataka, we will initiate talks with all the people who were part of the erstwhile Janata Dal which had earlier ruled the state," he said. "In Jharkhand, we need to revive our party wing, which still has not recovered from the division of Bihar," he said.

Yadav said he would have no truck with the Third Front proposed by UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and Telugu Desam leader Chandrababu Naidu. "The front they are proposing is for self-preservation, not for national security," he said.

He played down the fact that he is considered less soft towards the RSS than his predecessor George Fernandes. "What do we have to do with the RSS? It's BJP's business," he said. "Whether the BJP takes out a rath yatra or an aerial survey of the country, it is their programme," he said.

He added the bitterly contested elections for party presidency were avoided till the last moment. "But it could not happen," he said. He added Fernandes would remain NDA convener and would be accorded the respect due to a senior party leader.

"Fernandes is a senior leader and his place is assured in the party hierarchy," Yadav said.

Yadav's record too must not very reassuring for the party, which has split whenever he has been at the helm.