After forming the new government along with the BJP, The Janata Dal (U), will now vote for Opposition candidate for the vice-presidential poll, Gopalkrishna Gandhi.
JD(U) spokesperson K.C. Tyagi told The Hindu that the commitment to Gandhi predated the break in the Bihar grand alliance and, therefore, the party would not back out on that. “We have informed the BJP of the same,” he said.
Significantly, Gandhi was Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s choice for the Opposition’s presidential candidate as well, but the Congress persuaded other parties in the 18-party grouping to support former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar. The JD(U) had supported National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate and current President, Ram Nath Kovind, in the presidential poll.
Tyagi added that other than the vice-presidential poll, party MPs in both Houses of Parliament have been instructed to support the NDA on all other issues.
Significantly, JD(U) MPs Ali Anwar and M P Veerendra Kumar have expressed dissatisfaction with the alliance with the BJP, and privately, so has the party’s founding president Sharad Yadav.
“I don’t agree with the decision in Bihar. The mandate by the people was not for this,” Mr. Yadav said.
JD(U) to support Gopalkrishna Gandhi in Vice-President polls
