Nitish Kumar's JD(U) removes Sharad Yadav as party leader in Rajya Sabha

Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah has formally invited Nitish Kumar headed Janata Dal (United) to join the National Democratic Alliance.

Patna: Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) has replaced Sharad Yadav as party leader in the Rajya Sabha with Ram Chandra Prasad Singh.

Confirming the big political development, Bihar JD(U) president Vashishtha Narayan on Saturday said that the JD(U) leaders met Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu and gave him in writing that Singh will represent the party in the Upper House.

Justifying party's decision, Singh said, the step was necessary because if a person like Sharad Yadav indulges in anti-party activities it has to be condemned unanimously.

Singh is a trusted lieutenant of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The JD(U) on Friday suspended its rebel MP Ali Anwar Ansari for taking part in a meeting of opposition parties convened by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

The Janata Dal-United president Nitish Kumar on July 26 snapped ties with the Grand Alliance of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress.

Since then, Yadav has been criticising Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for breaking the Grand Alliance in Bihar and going with the BJP.

Yadav, a former JD(U) president, has made it clear that there is virtually no scope for a compromise between him and Kumar, whose move to form a coalition government with the BJP he had earlier described as a "betrayal of the people's faith".

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah has formally invited Nitish Kumar headed Janata Dal (United) to join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

The development comes a day after the Bihar Chief Minister had a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah in the national capital on Friday.

Confirming about the formal invite, Shah on Saturday tweeted, "I met JD(U) president Nitish Kumar at my residence yesterday. I invited JD(U) to join the NDA."