NEW DELHI, 2 November 2003 — Barely a day, after the two important NDA allies, Samata Party and the Janata Dal (United) reunited, it appeared headed for another split, in true Janata parivar tradition.
JD-U rebel and former union minister, Devendra Prasad Yadav dubbed the move “illegal” and said: “The merger is undemocratic and violative of the party constitution.”
Threatening legal action against the “drawing room decision”, the MP added he would not allow the “two non-resident (Bihar) leaders (George Fernandes and Sharad Yadav)” to treat the party like a private company. Devendra Prasad, however, did not spell out the proposed action.
Hinting at the likelihood of a split, he said he was waiting for the leaders to announce the date of the national council meeting.
A future strategy would be evolved after discussions with Bihar MPs and MLAs whose support Devendra Prasad claimed to have. Most of them were in their hometown for a Hindu festival, he said.
The merger, Devendra Prasad alleged, was aimed at saffronizing the Dal (United) which, unlike the Samata, had always stridently opposed the BJP agenda both inside and outside Parliament — “whether it is Ayodhya, Gujarat, disinvestment or farmers’ plight”. He described the arrangement between Fernandes and Sharad Yadav as “an exchange of power between non-resident leaders”. It was a “gimmick of (a) merger which would fall apart sooner than later”, he said.
Policy decisions, Devendra Prasad emphasized, are first discussed at the party’s national executive and then passed by the national council with two-thirds majority, according to Article 32 of the party constitution. The decision on reunification should have followed the same process, he said.
