JD(U) ready to join Union govt if invited, says KC Tyagi

New Delhi: Months after opting out of the Modi government, Janta Dal (United) on Wednesday said that it was ready to join the Union Cabinet on a “proportionate basis” if its ally and ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) extends an invitation.

Addressing a press conference after JD(U) National Council Meeting here, party general secretary KC Tyagi said that the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led party was ready to join the government if Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah invited them.

“We want unity and harmony in the country. JD(U) is ready to join the Union Cabinet on a proportionate basis after getting an invitation from Narendra Modi and Amit Shah,” Tyagi told reporters here.

The announcement was made after Nitish Kumar was re-elected as the party president at JD(U)’s National Council Meeting here.

JD(U) chose to keep itself out of the central government when the incumbent Union Cabinet was sworn-in on May 30. Speaking to reporters in Patna, Nitish Kumar had said that he had gotten an invitation from the BJP but would not be a part of the government.

JU(U), which is in power in Bihar with BJP, has 16 members in the Lok Sabha.