Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) on Wednesday asked its senior rebel leader Sharad Yadav to join the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of Lalu Prasad.

“Sharad Yadav should formally join the RJD and accept the party symbol Lantern as its own without any further delay,” JD-U spokesperson Neeraj Kumar advised Sharad Yadav, a day after the Election Commission (EC) did not take cognisance of an application by him of being the “real JD-U”, citing lack of documents.

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Neeraj Kumar said Sharad Yadav has no other option except to join RJD to survive in politics. “Now, Sharad Yadav may also lose his Rajya Sabha membership soon.”

He said Sharad Yadav has become ‘uncle’ of Lalu’s family, who has been facing action by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax department for their alleged corruption and benami property worth hundreds of crore.

He said Sharad Yadav and another party rebel MP Ali Anwar were already served notice by Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu last Monday, asking them to explain their position regarding a party petition seeking their disqualification from the House.

JD-U has time and again in last two weeks said that Sharad Yadav has “voluntarily” quit the membership of the JD-U by attending the RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s “Desh Bachao BJP Bhagao” rally here on August 27.

However, till date, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is also the president of JD-U has not expelled Sharad Yadav, former party president despite warning that party would act against him if he attends the RJD rally.

The JD-U in July-end split into “two factions”, one led by Nitish Kumar and the other by Sharad Yadav, after the Bihar Chief Minister dumped the Grand Alliance of RJD and Congress, and joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form a new government.

The JD-U on August 12 removed Sharad Yadav as the party’s leader in Rajya Sabha.

According to JD-U leaders, 70 MLAs, two Lok Sabha MPs and seven Rajya Sabha MPs are with Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal-United.