Headlines
'Janata Parivar' announces merger, yet to decide on name
New Delhi, April 15
After months of
deliberations, six constituents of the erstwhile Janata Party,
collectively referred to as the 'Janata Parivar', on Wednesday announced
their merger into a single entity to take on Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's BJP. However, they are yet to decide on a name and electoral
symbol.
Mulayam Singh Yadav, whose Samajwadi Party is one of the merged entities, is the president of the new party.
The
announcement was made at a joint press conference by JD-U chief Sharad
Yadav, who said a decision on the name, policy, flag and other issues
has been entrusted to a committee comprising Ram Gopal Yadav (SP),
Sharad Yadav (JD-U), Lalu Prasad (RJD), H.D. Deve Gowda (JD-S) and Kamal
Morarka (Samajwadi Janata Party-Rashtriya).
The decision was
announced after a meeting of leaders from Janata Dal-United, Janata
Dal-Secular, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Indian National Lok Dal and Samajwadi
Janata Party, apart from the Samajwadi Party, at the residence of
Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Sharad Yadav said: "The six parties have
unanimously decided to form a new party. Mulayam Singh Yadav will be
president of the new party. He will also be chairman of the
parliamentary board."
"We are ready to face the challenge which the nation faces today," said Yadav.
The joint press conference was addressed by Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad, H.D. Deve Gowda and INLD leader Abhay Chautala.
As
the entity focused on showing the BJP the door, starting with the Bihar
assembly polls, BJP spokesperson M.J. Akbar called it a "confederation
of political warlords".
"It is a temporary alliance of political
warlords, who think elections are determined not on the basis of
governance, but on the basis of barren (electoral) mathematics. As Amit
Shahji has said, zero plus zero equals to zero," Akbar said in Kolkata.
Challenging the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is in power at the center, Lalu Prasad challenged the BJP to a "new fight".
"We
have garlanded Mulayam Singh to fight against the communal powers that
have cheated their way to power. We have sacrificed our identities to
come together and chase the BJP out," said the former Bihar chief
minister, who also served as the railway minister at the centre.
He said the Bihar assembly elections later this year will be the first lesson for the BJP.
"The reversal will start from Bihar... The whole nation is watching... we will throw them (BJP) out," he said.
Mulayam Singh Yadav said that Narendra Modi government was about to complete a year but had not performed "a single new task".
"They
got a majority but they have not done a new thing so far. This it the
first government which does not consult opposition on any issue," said
the SP leader.
He also said that when he met Deve Gowda and later Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, they were "sad", but refused to elaborate.
Lalu
Prasad however made it clear that there was no "ego clash" within the
constituents, and all were together as the people wanted them to come
together.