Veerendra Kumar resigns from Rajya Sabha

Kozhikode: Kerala JD(U) president M P Veerendra Kumar Wednesday resigned from the Rajya Sabha.

Kumar had announced his decision to quit the RS seat last month as he did not want to be a part of JD(U) of Nitish Kumar, which joined BJP led NDA.

"I do not wish to continue as RS member under Mr Nitish Kumar who joined sangh parivar", he had told reporters after announcing his decision on November 29.

"The future course of action will be decided after consulting Sharad Yadav. I have not yet decided to join some other party or form a new one," he had told reporters after a JD(U) leaders party meeting here on December 13.

Kumar was elected to the Rajya Sabha in March 2016.

Sharad Yadav was recently disqualified as a Rajya Sabha member after Upper House chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu agreed to his party's plea that he had "voluntarily given up" his membership by joining a rally of opposition parties in Patna in August.

Yadav had joined hands with the opposition after Janata Dal(U) president and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar dumped the Grand Alliance with RJD and Congress in Bihar and tied up with the BJP in July this year.

JD(U) is presently a partner in the opposition Congress led UDF in Kerala.

Veerendra Kumar joined the UDF fold after snapping ties with the CPI(M) led LDF over differences on Kozhikode Lok saba seat with CPI-M in 2009.

Veerendra Kumar, the chairman and managing director of the Malayalam daily newspaper Mathrubhumi, is also a director in PTI.