Mulayam lands in Delhi for talks on Janata revival

Third front parties eyeing a “secular” grand alliance ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls have been left disappointed with no clear signal from SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav during the anniversary celebrations. The SP supremo, meanwhile, landed in Delhi on Tuesday to hold talks with other Janata Parivar leaders like Lalu Prasad.

Sources say Mulayam Singh Yadav did not commit anything during his address from the dias. He also did not hold any meetings with the leaders present on any seat sharing matters for Uttar Pradesh.

Mulayam Singh Yadav, known to be a tough customer during any alliance efforts, has been battling a feud in his party — one faction of which is led by his son Akhilesh and the other by his brother Shivpal.

All leaders of the socialist block had come together for the SP’s silver jubilee celebrations in Lucknow on November 5 after Shivpal Yadav, who has received support from Mulayam Singh Yadav in his feud with state chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, gave a call for unity among erstwhile Janata Dal leaders. “Mulayam Singh Yadav is the tallest leader of the socialist block. The ball is in his court, he has to take the lead,” JD(U) leader K. C. Tyagi said.

Mr Tyagi said if the “secular” parties fail to cobble together an alliance and stop the BJP in next year’s Assembly polls, it will be difficult to win the 2019 general polls.

Also, Congress-hired poll strategist Prashant Kishore met UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav over talks of an alliance. Mr Kishore had earlier met both Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav.

Key leaders of the ‘Janata Parivar’ outfits, including Mulayam and RJD chief Lalu Prasad, were in Delhi Tuesday and were likely to meet amid efforts for forging an alliance. Other leaders who have landed in Delhi on Tuesday include JD(U)’s Sharad Yadav and RJD leader Ajit Singh Dav.

Mr Tyagi said Uttar Pradesh has become an experimental ground for the BJP’s “communal politics” and cited issues like ‘Love Jihad’, Kairana migration and Muzaffarnagar riots raised by its leaders. A leader of the Rashtriya Lok Dal said talks between leaders had taken place but the main issue is about the distribution of seats among them.

“SP is the biggest party so it is for them to take initiative and finalise seat-sharing arrangements. We expect Mulayam Singh Yadav to hold meetings with various leaders in this regard,” he said, adding other than SP, only RLD was a serious player among various Janata Parivar outfits in Uttar Pradesh.