New Delhi/Patna, Nov. 29: Janata Dal United veteran Sharad Yadav today participated in a meeting of Opposition leaders locked in a battle with the Centre over demonetisation, signalling differences with party chief Nitish Kumar who has repeatedly endorsed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's November 8 decision.

Taking many by surprise, Sharad reached an informal afternoon meeting in Parliament and informed that he continued to be a part of the Opposition, sources said.

ARM-ED COMBAT

"He (Sharad Yadav) told us that his party had not yet decided to blindly support demonetisation and he couldn't attend the Opposition's Monday meeting as he was in Pune," a leader present at the meeting said quoting Sharad.

The leader said Sharad even hinted at some developments inside his party. "Wait for 3-4 days and see what happens, Sharadji told us," the leader said.

The JDU had consistently been part of the wider opposition agitating against demonetisation. But suddenly on Monday the party appeared to have withdrawn after Nitish said the JDU would not participate in any protest against the Prime Minister's decision. Late last evening, the Bihar chief minister even held a meeting of his legislators in Patna on the benefits of demonetisation.

The JDU did not attend today's daily morning meeting of Opposition leaders in Parliament to chalk out House strategy on demonetisation and also kept off the protest in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue.

"Since there was no information from the JDU, we presumed they had withdrawn after Nitish's directive. Sharad's presence today came as a pleasant surprise," another Opposition leader said.

Sharad, the former president of the JDU and a Rajya Sabha member, has not been on the same page as Nitish on certain key issues in the past too. The most prominent being the proposal for 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures. Sharad was viciously against the proposal, while Nitish backed the move forcefully.

The contradictions within the JDU mirrored the cracks within the Mahagathbandhan ruling Bihar.

RJD leader Rabri Devi, upset over the BJP's praise for Nitish for backing demonetisation, touched off a controversy when she made personal remarks involving the chief minister and his former deputy, Sushil Kumar Modi. The Telegraph is withholding her comments since Rabri later recanted from them, saying she had made them in a "lighter vein".

Later in the evening, Nitish attended a meeting of the RJD legislature party in Patna at the invitation of Lalu Prasad in an apparent bid to calm nerves within the ruling alliance given the different views on demonetisation.