Former Union Minister Sharad Yadav Dies At 75

NEW DELHI: Former Union Minister and veteran leader Sharad Yadav passed away on Thursday. He breathed his last at the age of 75. The leader's death has been confirmed by his daughter Shubhasini Sharad Yadav. She wrote on the social media platform, "Papa Nahi Rahe." Sharad Yadav was ill for a long time,his family sources said.

After the news of his death reached,a wave of mourning in the political corridors. Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yawad has expressed grief over the death of the leader.

He tweeted, "Saddened by the news of the untimely demise of Mandal Messiah, RJD's senior leader, great socialist leader, my parent, respected Sharad Yadav ji. I am unable to say anything. Talked to mother ji and brother Shantanu. Sad. At this hour, the entire Samajwadi family is with the relatives."

Sharad Yadav played an important role in the Janata Dal camp in the selection of Lalu Prasad Yadav as Chief Minister for the 1990 Bihar Assembly elections. The then Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh was in favor of making Ramsundar Das the CM. Lalu had led Sharad Yadav in his camp by three votes over Ramsundar Das within the RJD.

However, from here the foundation of the breakup of the friendship of the two was also laid. In 1997, Lalu formed the Rashtriya Janata Dal, while Sharad Yadav founded the Janata Dal (United). It later merged with George Fernandes' Samata Party. Later, Sharad and Lalu faced each other in the Lok Sabha elections as well. Both beat each other once.

Sharad Yadav strongly opposed Nitish Kumar's decision to return to the NDA in 2017. He had to pay the price of this protest by losing his seat in the Rajya Sabha. In 2018, he formed a separate party, LJD. However, the party failed politically. Sharad Yadav himself could not win the election. Finally Sharad Yadav decided to merge LJD with Lalu Yadav's RJD. Along with this, Lalu reunited with his old friend once again.