Janata Dal 2.0 to take on Modi

The Janata Dal is likely to be resurrected on December 2 or 3 when Janata Parivar parties meet here to announce a merger, sources in these parties have told The Hindu. The move comes 26 years after the original V.P. Singh-led Janata Dal was formed on October 11, 1988, out of a range of socialist splinter outfits.

The Janata Parivar comprises the Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (Secular), Indian National Lok Dal and Samajwadi Janata Party. SP supremo Mulayam Singh, the senior-most leader, will head the new party, it is learnt. Janata Parivar sources said while JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav will be the Upper House bloc leader, Mr. Singh will be the leader in the Lower House “if he wants the job.”

Janata Parivar MPs (25 in the Rajya Sabha and 15 in the Lok Sabha) will gather on November 25 to choose a common floor leader in each House and draw up an agenda for the winter session of Parliament.

Only the Samajwadi Janata Party, headed by Kamal Morarka, does not have a parliamentary presence but it will be part of the deliberations.

This formation will confront the Modi government in Parliament on its efforts to dilute the previous UPA government’s flagship MGNREGA and the historic Land Acquisition Act, for which it hopes to get support of the Congress and Left parties. It will also oppose the Insurance Bill.

JD(U) sources, meanwhile, said talks with the BJD would begin only after Janata Dal 2.0 became a reality. The JD(U), the RJD and the SP are the most eager to form one party