Yadav lashed out at the JD(U) for its 'inability' to oppose the UCC, despite the NDA ally voicing some dissent against Amit Shah's declaration that included Bihar among the 21 states where the Uniform Civil Code has been planned.

Yadav lashed out at the JD(U) for its 'inability' to oppose the UCC, despite the NDA ally voicing some dissent against Amit Shah's declaration that included Bihar among the 21 states where the Uniform Civil Code has been planned.

Yadav lashed out at the JD(U) for its 'inability' to oppose the UCC, despite the NDA ally voicing some dissent against Amit Shah's declaration that included Bihar among the 21 states where the Uniform Civil Code has been planned.

Amid allegations that the JD(U) would indirectly support the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Bihar, state Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday claimed that the NDA ally would “merge” with the BJP, faciliated by the JD(U)’s national working president, Sanjay Kumar Jha.

“JD(U)’s inability yet to come out with a clear stand on the UCC is proof enough what holds for the party in coming days,” he told reporters in Patna, calling the party the "B-team of the BJP".

He added that the "merger" prediction would also come true, just like the Opposition had allegedly predicted that JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar would not stay as the CM of Bihar.

This comes despite the JD(U) voicing some dissent against the implementation of the UCC in 21 NDA-ruled states, with JD(U) national general secretary Shyam Rajak declaring that the party would stand with Nitish Kumar's earlier decision to support the idea of the UCC, but not actually implement it in Bihar.

Jha had said that he would later meet with the Union Home Minister to present the party's stance on the issue.

Rajak had been responding to Amit Shah's UCC declaration made at a September 13 press conference on the 'Seva Sankalp Abhiyan' in Mumbai. The push for the UCC comes just ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, which is also significant, as it had been a key part of the saffron party's manifesto in the 2024 polls.

The intensifying UCC row in Bihar also comes ahead of a JD(U) meeting of MLAs and MLCs this Friday, which has led to speculations that the party is planning something major related to either its stance on the UCC, the proposed merger, or both.

“I foresee a split in the party in future and in that situation Janata Dal (Nitish)—instead of JD(U)—will be merged with the BJP for the better political prospects of Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant Kumar”, political expert Nawal Kishore Choudhary told The Hindu.

The party, however, has dismissed such claims, saying that the all-party meeting on Friday was purely a "one-day awareness programme", where experts from an organisation called PRS Legislative Research will provide training to JDU MLAs and MLCs, in order to make them more effective in the Assembly or Legislative Council.

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