Sharad Yadav to decide future strategy over new party after 17 August

New Delhi: Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav, who has opposed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s alliance with the BJP to form the new government in Bihar, will plan his future strategy after a conclave in Delhi on 17 August, leaders close to him said on Thursday. “Yadav will stay with the Grand Alliance while the idea of forming a new party will take some time,” Bihar Janata Dal-United leader Vijay Kumar Verma, who is a member of the Bihar legislative council, said. [caption id=“attachment_3864511” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Sharad Yadav. PTI[/caption] The proposed conclave on Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy will be attended by leaders of non-BJP parties. Verma said Yadav, a Rajya Sabha member, will visit Bihar on 8 August and stay in the state for a week. Another party functionary, Javed Raza, took objection to a party leader’s attack on Yadav for not supporting the JD-U alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar. Raza said no leader loyal to Yadav had spoken against Nitish, who is also the JD(U) President, and thus the party spokespersons should also not make remarks against Yadav. Yadav had dubbed Nitish’s tie-up with the BJP as “unfortunate” and said he did not agree with his decision. Speaking to reporters on Monday, the Rajya Sabha member said: “The public mandate (in Bihar in 2015) was not for this.” Nitish on 26 July resigned as the Chief Minister, breaking the 20-month-old Grand Alliance of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress and the JD-U. After the surprise break-up, Nitish next morning aligned again with the BJP and formed a new coalition government in the state with the BJP suppor