Nitish Kumar's JD(U) removes Sharad Yadav as party leader in Rajya Sabha

Agencies

August 12, 2017

Patna, Aug 12: Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) has replaced Sharad Yadav as party leader in the Rajya Sabha with Ram Chandra Prasad Singh.

Confirming the big political development, Bihar JD(U) president Vashishtha Narayan on Saturday said that the JD(U) leaders met Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu and gave him in writing that Singh will represent the party in the Upper House.

Justifying party's decision, Singh said, the step was necessary because if a person like Sharad Yadav indulges in anti-party activities it has to be condemned unanimously.

Singh is a trusted lieutenant of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The JD(U) on Friday suspended its rebel MP Ali Anwar Ansari for taking part in a meeting of opposition parties convened by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

The Janata Dal-United president Nitish Kumar on July 26 snapped ties with the Grand Alliance of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress.

Since then, Yadav has been criticising Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for breaking the Grand Alliance in Bihar and going with the BJP.

Yadav, a former JD(U) president, has made it clear that there is virtually no scope for a compromise between him and Kumar, whose move to form a coalition government with the BJP he had earlier described as a "betrayal of the people's faith".

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah has formally invited Nitish Kumar headed Janata Dal (United) to join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

The development comes a day after the Bihar Chief Minister had a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah in the national capital on Friday.

Confirming about the formal invite, Shah on Saturday tweeted, "I met JD(U) president Nitish Kumar at my residence yesterday. I invited JD(U) to join the NDA."

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‘This is how it began in Gujarat’: Modi outlines BJP’s political ambitions in Kerala

News Network

January 23,2026

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, January 23, indicated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is aiming to expand its political footprint in Kerala ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled in the coming months.

Speaking at a BJP-organised public meeting, Modi drew parallels between the party’s early electoral gains in Gujarat and its recent victory in the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation. The civic body win, which ended decades of Left control, was cited by the Prime Minister as a possible starting point for the party’s broader ambitions in the state.

Recalling BJP’s political trajectory in Gujarat, Modi said the party was largely insignificant before 1987 and received little media attention. He pointed out that the BJP’s first major breakthrough came with its victory in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation that year.

“Just as our journey in Gujarat began with one city, Kerala’s journey has also started with a single city,” Modi said, suggesting that the party’s municipal-level success could translate into wider electoral acceptance.

The Prime Minister alleged that successive governments led by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) had failed to adequately develop Thiruvananthapuram. He accused both fronts of corruption and neglect, claiming that basic infrastructure and facilities were denied to the capital city for decades.

According to Modi, the BJP’s control of the civic body represents a shift driven by public dissatisfaction with the existing political alternatives. He asserted that the BJP administration in Thiruvananthapuram had begun working towards development, though no specific details or timelines were outlined.

Addressing the gathering at Putharikandam Maidan, Modi said the BJP intended to project Thiruvananthapuram as a “model city,” reiterating his party’s commitment to governance-led change.

The Prime Minister’s visit to Kerala also included the inauguration of several development projects and the flagging off of new train services, as the BJP intensifies its political outreach in the poll-bound state.

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