JD-U suspends 21 Sharad supporters from party

The Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal-United (JD-U) suspended 21 "rebel" members from the party on Monday, deepening the crisis after senior leader Sharad Yadav expressed his displeasure on switching allies to form a new government in Bihar.

The 21 suspended party men are considered to be Sharad loyalists including former minister Ramai Ram, former MP Arjun Rai, former MLA Rajkishore Sinha and former MLC (from Madhepura) Vijay Verma. Along with Ram, Rai and some of the suspended leaders were seen participating prominently in Sharad's yatra even though the Nitish faction of the Bihar JD-U had said that Sharad's yatra was not sanctioned by the party high command.

The others in the suspension list also include district and block presidents, state council members and present or former representatives of party's different cells. Interestingly, all 21 belong to districts of north Bihar, and Madhepura in the Kosi belt is believed to be Sharad's seat.

"Bihar JD-U President Bashishtha Narayan Singh has suspended these 21 leaders from the primary membership of the party because of their anti-party activities," JD-U state general secretary Anil Kumar said.