Kerala JD(U) leader Veerendra Kumar quits Rajya Sabha, cites party’s tie-up with BJP

The 80-year-old, also a Kerala media baron, submitted his resignation to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday morning. (File photo)

Kerala JD(U) leader MP Veerendra Kumar on Wednesday resigned from the Rajya Sabha, saying he did not approve of the Nitish Kumar-led party’s alliance with the BJP in Bihar. The development comes days after rebel JD(U) leaders Sharad Yadav and Ali Anwar were disqualified from the Upper House.

The 80-year-old, also a Kerala media baron, submitted his resignation to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday morning, IANS reported. A Yadav loyalist, Kumar had earlier said he no longer wished to continue under the leadership of JD(U) national president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Arun Kumar Shrivastava, also a rebel JD(U) leader, said Kumar resigned so that no one raises a finger against his integrity. “Kumar quit the party so that no one questions his integrity that he is aligning with Nitish,” Shrivastava said.

However, the decision should not come as a surprise as Kumar had conveyed in November itself about his decision to quit. In November, Kumar, a Lok Sabha MP from Kozhikode in 1996 and 2004, said “if required” the Kerala unit of the Sharad Yadav faction of JD(U) would revive the old Socialist Janata Democratic (SJD) party.

“I don’t wish to continue as a Rajya Sabha MP under the leadership of Nitish. I have conveyed this to him. The date of resignation is a technical one,” he said.

Kumar was elected to the Upper House from Kerala last year with support from the Congress-led UDF. Nitish Kumar’s decision to break away from the Grand Alliance with the RJD and the Congress in Bihar and align with the BJP-led NDA in July this year led to cracks within the party.

Yadav, JD(U)’s co-founder, led the rebel faction to protest against Nitish’s decision. He was disqualified from the Rajya Sabha along with Ali Anwar on December 4 “on ground of defection rules”.