In a bid to form a united opposition, former union minister Sharad Yadav on Sunday merged his party Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) with Bihar former chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav led  Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)
After the announcement of merger, Sharad Yadav said that this is the first step towards forging the opposition unity. To beat the mighty BJP, it is required that the whole opposition gets united and it is the priority.  “ As of now unification is the priority, later it will be discussed or will be thought who will lead the united opposition,” said Sharad Yadav. 
Following JD(U)’s alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, Sharad Yadav parted his ways from JD(U) and floated a new party called Loktantrik Janata Dal in 2018. Interestingly, LJD since its inception never fought elections but it’s chief fought the 2019 Lok Sabha election from the Madhepura Parliamentary constituency on the RJD ticket but he lost the election. 
Lalu Yadav and Sharad Yadav, the two leaders, have reunited after a 25-year separation. Both leaders split in 1997, when Lalu Yadav established RJD and Sharad Yadav, along with Nitish Kumar, launched JD (U)
Sharad Yadav served as a Cabinet Minister in the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the Centre.
Following the LJD-RJD merger, the RJD is expected to nominate Sharad Yadav to the Rajya Sabha at the Upper House's biennial elections in June.