The Sharad Yadav camp of the Janata Dal (United) on Thursday filed a fresh application before the Election Commission staking claim for the party’s arrow symbol, PTI reported. The panel had rejected the faction’s earlier claim on Tuesday because of a lack of supporting documents.
In its fresh application, the group has told the panel that the rejection was based on “hyper-critical grounds” and it should have given the faction a hearing. The Yadav faction has also sought four weeks’ time to submit the necessary documents.
Janata Dal (United) leader Arun Kumar Shrivastav said the party’s national executive will meet in New Delhi on Sunday, and that will show how much support Yadav enjoys. It will be followed by the national council meeting on October 8. “It is Bihar Chief Minister Kumar, and not Yadav who strayed from the party’s avowed position and betrayed it by joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party,” Shrivastav said.
The rift in the Janata Dal (United) between Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav began after the Bihar chief minister broke the party’s alliance in the state with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress. He joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party to form government in Bihar, after which the BJP’s Sushil Kumar Modi was sworn in as the deputy chief minister.
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