SP’s Shivpal talks to Ajit amid buzz on UP poll pact

Samajwadi leader Shivpal Yadav, now engaged in a bitter power struggle with nephew Akhilesh Yadav, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, has been meeting a slew of political leaders in New Delhi since Wednesday. But what drew attention was the presence of Congress stategist Prashant Kishor at one of the meetings with JD(U) leader K.C. Tyagi, that indicated efforts were on to stick together a grand secular alliance like Bihar’s “Mahagathbandhan”.

Shivpal Yadav met Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh on Friday before leaving New Delhi. Since arriving in the nation’s capital on Wednesday night, he had met senior JD(U) leaders Sharad Yadav and K.C. Tyagi, and had spoken to RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and Bihar’s chief minister Nitish Kumar over the phone.

It was at his meeting with Mr Tyagi that Prashant Kishor was present. Mr Tyagi, however, insisted that there were no talks about an alliance in UP at the meeting and that Shivpal had just dropped in to invite parties aligned with Ram Manohar Lohia’s ideology to the Samajwadi Party’s 25th anniversary celebrations next week. Mr Tyagi has been in touch with Mr Kishor since the grand alliance in Bihar. “As far as we are concerned, the Congress is not part of the socialist Lohia camp,” Mr Tyagi said.

Another senior JD(U) leader quipped that Mulayam Singh Yadav would not be able to give 100 seats in UP “even to God”, indicating that this was the kind of number the Congress might demand in case of a pre-poll alliance.

The Bihar “Mahagathbandhan”, comprising the JD(U), RJD and Congress, had emphatically trounced the BJP in the Assembly elections in that state last year. The SP had, however, pulled out of the alliance after being an active participant in the initial stages.

Mr Kishor, who began his political career as a strategist for then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, had shifted base to the Nitish Kumar camp before the Bihar elections. He has been hired by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for political strategy-making ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls.

The Samajwadi Party has split wide open amid a internal feud, with CM Akhilesh Yadav repeatedly blaming Amar Singh for the crisis. The young CM had bitterly opposed Amar Singh’s reinduction into the SP earlier this month. Amar Singh, on his part, has been supporting Shivpal, Akhilesh’s uncle, who is in turn backed by Samajwadi supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav. While Mulyam has ostensibly been trying to broker peace between Shivpal and Akhilesh, he has clearly supported both Amar Singh and Shivpal Yadav.

Before leaving for New Delhi, Shivpal Yadav had told the media in Lucknow that Mulayam Singh Yadav had given him the go-ahead to explore an alliance with like-minded parties ahead of the UP elections. Akhilesh has, however, expressed a clear preference for going it solo.