Wasn't afraid of Indira, who is Nitish, asks Sharad Yadav on being sacked

He refused to comment on reports on JDU decision to replace him as the parliamentary party leader

Senior Janata Dal United (JDU) leader Sharad Yadav on Saturday hit out at current JDU president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, saying the party is not Kumar's alone but belonged to him too. Yadav said that he stood up against former prime minister Indira Gandhi and was not afraid of anyone. 

"JDU sirf Nitish Kumar ki hi party nahi hai, yeh meri bhi party hai (JDU is not just Nitish Kumar's party, it's my party too)," Yadav said in Bihar's Madhepura district on the last day of his three-day Samvad Yatra to meet people and interact with them. He told them of his displeasure and pain over Kumar's decision to break the Grand Alliance of JDU, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress and join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and form a new government.

Kumar is the JDU national president and said to fully control the party in Bihar. "There are two JD-Us in Bihar, one is sarkari (official) and another is janata (of the people). All the party legislators, leaders, who are close to the government for personal benefit are with Nitish Kumar, but leaders and workers close to the people are with me," Yadav said.

He refused to comment on reports on the JDU decision to replace him as the parliamentary party leader.

Yadav, who is Rajya Sabha MP, said when he had "not been afraid of Indira Gandhi, how do others matter".

"I am not afraid of anyone to speak the truth and stand by my principles," he said in reference to his fight against Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi in the mid 70s, when he was a student leader close to Jayaprakash Narayan, who led the movement that ousted Indira Gandhi from power for the first time in 1977.

Yadav said action has been taken against a few leaders of the party "who are standing with me", and leaders close to Kumar have been threatening other JDU leaders supporting him.

Yadav reiterated that he is still with the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) that was given a mandate by 11 crore people in Bihar in the 2015 assembly polls to rule for five years.

"The decision to join hands with the BJP and form a government in Bihar was against the mandate given in the 2015 assembly polls."

He said it was the people who had made the Grand Alliance of RJD, JDU and Congress in 2015 Bihar Assembly polls and given their mandate to rule for five years. "People's mandate was against the BJP-led NDA," he said.