Patna, Aug 10 (PTI): On his first trip to Bihar since the end of the Grand Alliance, senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav on Thursday the disintegration of the grouping has broken the trust of 11 crore people of the state and he is "hurt" by it.
He arrived at the airport in Patna to embark on a three-day tour during which he would hold "direct dialogue" with the people over breaking of the JD(U)-RJD-Congress coalition and formation of the JD(U)-BJP alliance government.
Earlier, after Nitish Kumar had walked away from the Grand Alliance, Sharad Yadav had said it was a "betrayal" of the people's mandate.
Now it is clear the JD(U) too is maintaining a distance with Yadav during the trip. While only a handful of JD(U) workers were present at the airport to receive him, RJD supporters were seen in large numbers.
Senior JD(U) leader and former Bihar minister Ramai Ram was the big name present at the airport. Former RJD legislator Ram Badan Rai was also at the airport.
"The trust of 11 crore people who gave mandate to form the Grand Alliance government in Bihar has been broken," Yadav told reporters.
"The agreement of Gatbandhan (Grand Alliance) was for five years which has been broken...I am hurt by this," the Rajya Sabha MP said.
He said the Grand Alliance and the BJP had put out different manifestos for the state election and they were face-to-face.
"It's for the first time in history of the country that the two manifestos of rival groupings have mingled."
"I continue to stand for the 'Gathbandhan' (Grand Alliance)," he said.
Asked whether his trip did not amount to "anti-party activity", Yadav, who is the leader of the party in the Upper House, said, "I do not want to make any comment."
From the Patna airport, Sharad Yadav's convoy headed straight for Sonepur in Saran district. From there, he would go to Hajipur and stop at Muzaffarpur during the night.
As per his programme on his twitter account, he would visit the Muzaffarpur-Darbhanga-Madhubani stretch on Friday and to Madhubani-Supual Madhepura on Saturday.