We had got hints of Nitish move: Sharad Yadav

Hyderabad: Despite the failure of the Grand Alliance in Bihar, Sharad Yadav, the leader of the Janata Dal - United (JDU), said that he would continue in his efforts to unite all anti-BJP parties ahead of the 2019 elections to take on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Speaking to this paper, Mr Yadav, who was in Hyderabad on Sunday, said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had betrayed the Grand Alliance by joining hands with the BJP.

“Those who are supposed to be in the Opposition are ruling the state, which is not witnessed anywhere else in the country.”

Mr Yadav said they had got wind of Mr Kumar’s conspiracy to break the Grand Alliance before the announcement of demonetisation in November 2016. “Nitish supported demonetisation unconditionally; he also extended unconditional support to the NDA’s presidential candidate. These actions proved beyond doubt that Nitish was going to join hands with the BJP,” he said.

Mr Yadav said that several economic experts had predicted that demonetization would drastically reduce the nation’s GDP, and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also called the move a man-made disaster which would have severe consequences.

“They have been proved right; the GDP is going down and unemployment is rising,” he said. Mr Yadav expressed confidence that a new Grand Alliance would be possible if all like-minded parties came together before the 2019 general elections. “We are already holding meetings in all major states to bring anti-BJP forces together. Our efforts will continue until a strong alternate force is formed,” he said.