While the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Bihar unit is crying foul at the ruling Janata Dal (United), claiming that the former NDA partner is trying to win over several party MLAs, reports indicate not all is well within the JD(U) itself.

If sources are to be believed, six JD(U) MPs, upset with Bihar chief minister Nitish. Kumar’s decision to part ways with the BJP, among others, plan to raise a banner of revolt before the monsoon session of parliament begins in the first week of August. According to sources, the six MPs cannot win their parliamentary constituencies without the support of BJP – in other words without upper caste votes, which the BJP is said to have a sway over.

Besides this mini-revolt, a bigger problem for JD(U) could lie at the top, as sources indicate differences between party president Sharad Yadav and its most well known face, chief minister Nitish Kumar, are gradually coming out in the open. Yadav, who is known to have been opposed to the split with the BJP, has removed party MP Shivanand Tiwari as the JD(U) spokesman and brought back Shambhu Srivastava in the post.

While Yadav has reasoned that Tiwari is leader of the party in Rajya Sabha and he can certainly speak to the media, the move is being interpreted in political circles differently. Tiwari was very vocal in his criticism of BJP, and Narendra Modi, and usually deviated from the Sharad Yadav line. In fact, he is considered one of the key factors for the BJP-JD(U) split.

Despite being the party president and leader of the party’s parliamentary party Yadav has been sidelined in JD(U) scheme of things ever since Nitish Kumar decided to part ways with the NDA.

According to insiders, Yadav was not in favour of parting company with the NDA since he had realised that JD(U) would be marginalised in national politics post-split, as it has failed to grow beyond Bihar. All the party MPs and MLAs are from Bihar and are said to be in the Nitish Kumar camp. Left with no vital role since he is no more the NDA convener, and little signs of the party joining a vague third front – in fact, Sanjay Jha, a JD(U) leader considered close to the CM, said on Tuesday that a third front is “unworkable” – Yadav is moving in to carve out a role for himself in national politics by asserting himself in the party.
By bringing in George Fernandes loyalist Shambhu Srivastava, Yadav has tried to placate the camp to counter the growing clout of Nitish Kumar.

Yadav was also not on the same page with Nitish Kumar when the Bihar CM accused the BJP and Lalu Yadav’s RJD of conspiring in the midday meal deaths in Saran district last week. Yadav did not comment on the issue.