No UP alliance, says Mulayam Singh Yadav

Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday announced that his party would not enter into an alliance with any other party.

“We will contest the polls alone and there will be no alliance with Lalu (Yadav) or Nitish (Kumar). If anyone wants to merge party, we can consider,” he said at a press conference here.

The declaration comes a day after Mulayam Singh Yadav held a series of meetings with political strategist Prashant Kishore, JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav and RLD president Ajit Singh in Delhi and Lucknow. Mulayam Singh Yadav’s announcement brought disappointment for those who were expecting an alliance with like-minded parties.

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had said on Wednesday that he would win 300 seats if an alliance was sewn up.

The Congress had, all along, been denying reports of an alliance with the SP. Sources close to the SP president said that talks with parties had broken off after the SP insisted on merger before the elections.

Earlier, ia show of solidarity, all “alliance” leaders came together for the SPs silver jubilee celebrations in Lucknow on November 5 after Shivpal Yadav gave a call for unity among erstwhile Janata Dal leaders.