Sources close to JD(U) top leaders and the former party president have given a strong suggestion that Sharad Yadav may come to the Janata Dal (United) before the Bihar Assembly elections.

As stated by the sources, several senior leaders of the party including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar have called and spoke to Yadav over the past few days and paved the way for his return.

Yadav left the JD(U) in 2017 after breaking away from the Grand Alliance of the RJD and the Congress. He subsequently joined BJP to make a replacement government. In May 2018, he formed his own party, Loktantrik Janata Dal. But in 2019, when he contested the Lok Sabha election from Madhepura on an RJD ticket, he lost.

Yadav had been admitted to a hospital in Gurgaon for last one month and was discharged on Sunday.

JD (U) Principal General Secretary KC Tyagi said that people kept visiting Yadav during his stay within the hospital. Tyagi eased the conversation between the Bihar Chief Minister and Yadav’s wife which went onto be an important ice breaker between the rivals. Later Nitish Kumar also spoke to Yadav. Negotiations are being carried forward by Nitish Kumar’s cabinet minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav on behalf of the CM.

JD(U) leaders neither confirmed nor denied Yadav’s proposed return to the party.
Tyagi told a media outlet that Sharadji had been unwell and it had been a courtesy call between him and Nitish Kumar to check on Yadav’s wellbeing.

JD (U) spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan has said that there should be no surprise when Yadav returns. He also added that Sharad Yadav is an old socialist leader and was feeling uneasy within the grand alliance. Rajiv also stated that one must not be surprised if any such development of Sharad Yadav returning to JD(U) takes place.

According to sources close to Yadav, there can be many reasons to give some thoughts to Yadav’s returning to JD (U).

For one, he could return to the Rajya Sabha and maintain his official residence in Delhi. In December 2017, Yadav was disqualified as a Rajya Sabha member. He had challenged his disqualification at the Delhi tribunal. The case still remains pending. The Supreme Court has allowed him to stay at his official residence until the case is decided upon. His membership is set to expire in July 2022.
Furthermore, Yadav has not attracted attention from the RJD in recent times. Sources close to Sharad Yadav stated that while several JDU leaders had recently called him to inquire about his health, none of the RJD men called him.

In a disclosure to a newspaper, a source near to Yadav stated that even in 2019, when the RJD gave three to five tickets to the parties of Upendra Kushwaha, Jeetan Ram Manjhi, and Mukesh Sahani, JD(U) got two tickets that too on the RJD symbol. It was also added that even during the recent Rajya Sabha elections, RJD had ignored Sharad Yadav.

The 73-year-old leader’s return may be a symbolic value for the JD (U) in context of the upcoming assembly elections.