The plan to stitch a grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh before the 2017 Assembly polls suffered a rude shock when the Samajwadi Party brass decided to skip the swearing-in ceremony of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and senior minister Shivpal Singh Yadav were slated to attend the ceremony in Patna but all three cancelled their Patna visit at the last moment.
SP general secretary and in-charge of Bihar, Kironmoy Nanda confirmed to The Pioneer that none of the party leaders had attended the oath taking ceremony of Nitish Kumar.
Nanda did not elaborate the reason behind the sudden decision to skip the ceremony but said that leaders were busy with the preparation of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s birthday ceremony to be held at Saifai on Saturday.
CM Akhilesh Yadav, who was slated to attend the Patna ceremony instead went to Saifai to welcome musician A R Rahman, who would perform at the function on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the SP leadership’s decision to skip the ceremony could jeopardise the possibility of a grand alliance in UP before the 2017 Assembly polls. The function was seen as an opportunity to mend ties between SP and members of Grand Alliance.
A senior SP leader admitted that the grand alliance in UP is a non-starter. The boycott of the Patna function indicates a clear picture, he said.
Despite such differences Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members are expected to visit Saifai on Saturday to attend the birthday celebration of Mulayam Singh Yadav. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has also been invited for the function.