Patna: Rubbishing media reports that he was contemplating quitting the JD(U) due to strained relations with party president Sharad Yadav and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, former party chief and NDA convenor George Fernandes on Friday dubbed the two leaders as 'autocrats'.
"Both Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav were, are and will always be autocrats. But I have never spoken about reviving or resuscitating the Samata Party or resigning my Muzaffarpur Lok Sabha seat and contesting again," he told reporters at the residence of disgruntled former Jehanabad MP Arun Kumar.
JD(U) General Secretary Shiv Kumar had earlier in the day told PTI that Fernandes was unhappy over the way party was being run, particularly after its decision to align with Sone Lal Patel's Apna Dal in election-bound Uttar Pradesh.
"The JD(U) is not being run in a democratic manner. Friends and genuine JD(U) workers are requesting Fernandes to resuscitate the Samata Party, which some of our old friends have kept alive," Shiv Kumar said.
Patel was alleged to have said he was not averse to fielding underworld dons like Dawood Ibrahim and Abu Salem in the UP polls scheduled for next year.
Fernandes, who reportedly wanted JD(U) to tie-up with BJP instead of Apna Dal in Uttar Pradesh, said, "Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav went to UP and held joint rallies with Patel where they projected him as the chief ministerial candidate of the new alliance".
"Now, how should I explain this to my partymen when Patel has been speaking such things? (giving tickets to underworld dons). How can I go about explaining the decision of the new JD(U) leadership to my party workers?" an angry Fernandes demanded.
On repeated assertions by Nitish and Sharad that he was their 'respectable leader', the former defence minister said, "I am a petty Rs five member of the JD(U), but none can isolate me in this party. All talk of my being a respectable leader is aimed at insulting me."
"The people of the state are indeed unhappy over the way the government is functioning and I share their perception," he said, before leaving for Balbatra in Bhojpur district, where four Dalits were recently beaten to death allegedly in the presence of the police on the charge of cattle theft.
Arun Kumar and Shiv Kumar accompanied the NDA convenor.
Meanwhile, suspended JD(U) MLA from Mohania, Chhedi Paswan has said he would organise a function in Patna on September 21 to mark the birth anniversary of former Bihar CM Bhol Paswan Shastri where Fernandes will be the chief guest.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Sharad Yadav and state JD(U) President Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lallan' and their supporters have not been invited for the function.
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