Sharad Yadav likely to become JD(U) president for the fourth time

Sharad Yadav is likely to become the President of Janata Dal (United) for the fourth time as the party has set in motion the process for its organisational polls at various levels which will culminate into election of its new chief.

As per practice in the party, the new President will address an open session in which he will lay out the road map for the organisation, said JD(U) general secretary Javed Raza. He said June 28 has been fixed the date for open session which will mark the end of the organisational polls process.

The 68-year-old Yadav is tipped to be the party President again, sources in the party said. He first became the JD(U) president in 2006 succeeding George Fernandes who had been elected the party president in 2003. As per the party's constitution, the term of all office bearers including its national President is of two years.

However, the organisational elections were delayed and as a result Yadav is party president for last ten years despite serving only three terms so far.

In April 2013, when Yadav had got his third stint as the JD(U) chief, the party was in NDA and he was the convener of the BJP-led alliance. Months later in June, JD(U) broke away from BJP, bringing an end to its 17-year-old alliance, as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was vehemently opposed to the saffron party projecting Narendra Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate.

Organisational elections of JD(U) is happening at a time when friends-turned-foes Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad have once again joined hands in Bihar thwarting BJP's attempts to repeat its good Lok Sabha election performance in the state.

In Lok Sabha polls, the Narendra Modi juggernaut had decimated both RJD and JD(U) and bagged 31 of 40 Lok Sabha seats. The Assembly polls saw JD(U) and RJD in alliance with Congress winning 178 of 243 Lok Sabha seats, slapping a humiliating defeat on BJP. After the victory, Kumar has emerged as a focal point in the Opposition leadership.

Planning to widen its footprint on national politics, JD(U) has decided to go for a change of election symbol to reach out to people more effectively and will soon approach Election Commission in this regard.
The party is also planning to contest upcoming polls in five states this year in alliance with other parties including Congress. 

JD(U) has its presence in 20-odd states. One of its two MLAs in Kerala is minister in the Congress-led UDF government. It also has good presence in Jharkhand and Karnataka.

Yadav, a seven-time Lok Sabha MP, had won four times from Madhepura Lok Sabha seat in Bihar. But, he lost 2014 general elections to Pappu Yadav of RJD from the seat.

The JD(U) chief was brought to Rajya Sabha immediately in June 2014, his third term in the Upper House. Hailing from Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh, Yadav is an electronics engineering graduate from Jabalpur.

Raza blamed the delay for this year's organisational polls on the party's involvement in Parliamentary and Assembly elections.

As per the calendar of events for membership sent by the central leadership to state units, March 31 will be the last date for the enrolment of primary and active members, which will be followed by election block, district and state Presidents in June.

The states have been asked to complete their election process by June 19 after which the notification for the election of the national President will be issued on June 19.