New Delhi, March 20 (Agency) Sharad Yadav’s Loktantrik Janata Dal was merged with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Sunday. Yadav said the merger was the “first step” towards uniting Opposition parties against ruling BJP. Leader of Opposition in Bihar and RJD founder Lalu Yadav’s son Tejashvi Yadav, daughter Misa Bharti, Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha were among the leaders present at the event held at Sharad Yadav’s residence in Delhi. Talking to media, Yadav called the merger the first step towards uniting Opposition parties. “The situation that is prevailing today, all Opposition parties need to come together. BJP cannot be defeated till all parties come together,” Yadav said. He said he has full faith in Tejashwi Yadav, and added that Lalu Prasad will also be out of jail very soon.
Asked who would be the prime ministerial candidate if Opposition parties come together, Yadav said it would be decided later. “The first step is uniting the Opposition. PM candidate will be decided later… Just like when Janata Dal was formed, the parties first came together, and Morarji Desai became the Prime Minister,” he said. The LJD was an unrecognized registered political party in India, launched by Sharad Yadav and Ali Anwar in May 2018. The party was formed after Yadav quit Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United (JD-U) over an alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar. The LJD never fought any election as a party. Yadav fought from Madhepura in Bihar in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls on RJD ticket but lost. In 2020 Bihar polls, his daughter Suhashini Yadav contested from Bihariganj seat on a Congress ticket and lost the polls.