Co-founder of the Janata Dal (United) Sharad Yadav on Monday said he did not approve of his party’s decision to ally with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar. “It is unfortunate,” the Rajya Sabha MP told reporters outside Parliament. “This was not the mandate of the people.”

This is his first time the senior politician openly voiced his opposition to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s move to break the alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress in the state. On Friday, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav had claimed that Sharad Yadav was on his side in the political turmoil in Bihar. “He has been in touch and he told us he is with us,” he had said.

Kumar joined hands with the BJP and was sworn in as the chief minister of Bihar on Thursday, 14 hours after he resigned from the post. Sharad Yadav is believed to have met Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in Delhi after Kumar announced his decision.

The Congress, RJD and JD(U) made up the alliance in the state, which Kumar broke away from on Wednesday evening to ally with the BJP. The Bihar chief minister won the floor test in the Assembly on Friday with a comfortable 131-108 margin. After proving his majority in the House, he said the mandate was to serve the people of Bihar and not one family.