This Article is From Jun 17, 2013

Will consider return to NDA if LK Advani helms it: Sharad Yadav

Will consider return to NDA if LK Advani helms it: Sharad Yadav
Patna: A day after his party, the Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) ended a 17-year alliance with the BJP, party president Sharad Yadav listed the terms for a possible reconciliation.

"We will see what happens if Advani returns to the central role," said Mr Yadav, who resigned as NDA convenor yesterday. "We had fought 2009 elections projecting Advani as our Prime Ministerial candidate," he added.

The JD(U) walked out on Sunday of the National Democratic Alliance or NDA, the coalition led by the BJP, blaming the party's decision to place Narendra Modi in charge of the campaign for the national election, due by May.

The BJP has said under no circumstances will it rethink its decision on Mr Modi. Mr Yadav's comments today are seen as an attempt to embarrass his former partner.

Both Mr Yadav and his colleague Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, have accused the BJP of "betraying its elders." Mr Kumar said today, "The era of Atal-Advani is over... we cannot accept the new order of the BJP," referring to Mr Advani and the BJP's iconic leader, former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. (Read)

Detractors like Lalu Yadav, who hopes to return to power in Bihar, have attributed the JD(U)'s break-up with the BJP to a poorly-disguised attempt to promote Mr Advani's agenda and prime ministerial ambition.

The 85-year-old had resigned from all BJP posts in protest against Mr Modi's promotion. After he was coaxed to return, he intervened as the crisis with the JD(U) escalated, urging Mr Yadav and Mr Kumar on the phone to keep the NDA intact.
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