Known for making unpredictable political moves, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has done it again. Delivering a major setback to the unity of the Janata Parivar in Bihar, he has pulled out SP from the anti-NDA “grand alliance’ in the poll-bound State.
The SP has decided to contest Bihar Assembly election either on its own or by entering into arrangements with smaller parties which are not aligned with either NDA or the RJD-JD(U)-Congress alliance. The NCP has already invited the SP to join hands with it to contest the Bihar polls.
JD(U) is trying all it could to convince Mulayam not to pull out. Its president Sharad Yadav called on Mulayam in the evening and claimed that the alliance will remain intact, but there was no word from the SP to confirm his claim.
Claiming that the offer of just five seats to the SP was “humiliating” , senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav told reporters in lucknow that the alliance failed to abide by the “Gathbandhan Dharma” as the SP was not consulted by the lalu Prasad-led RJD and Bihar Chief Nitish Kumar in deciding the distribution of seats.
“We were humiliated by the alliance. It was the duty of the major constituents to consult the SP before deciding over seat sharing. The final decision was taken in the parliamentary board presided by Mulayam Singh Yadav. Due to difference of the wishes of the party cadres of Bihar, the party has decided to go it alone and if needed will consider the electoral understanding with some parties in Bihar. We were not consulted by the partners before they finalised the distribution of seats. Is this the “Gathbandhan Dharma”, we got this information from the media,” Yadav said at a Press conference in lucknow.
The SP is marginal player in Bihar, but its decision has come as a jolt to the “grand alliance” floated to counter the resurgent BJP in the State. Mulayam Singh Yadav had skipped the first rally of the alliance in Patna on August 30.
Ram Gopal Yadav also reiterated that the unity of the constituents of the Janata Parivar was not politically feasible. “I will not single out anyone who is responsible for this. Even if all the constituents had merged with the Samajwadi Party, we would have lost our name and the party symbol as such political formation was bound to split in future and created more problems for us,” Yadav said, adding that, the “merger would amount to signing your own death warrant.”
Ram Gopal Yadav had earlier too expressed his discontentment over merger of erstwhile Janata parties.
The SP general secretary denied that the decision of his party to walk out of the alliance will weaken the secular alliance and divide the secular votes in Bihar. “Did the BJP won in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan due to the division of the secular votes. Divisions do not decide the elections. After all how the SP won the 2012 State Assembly elections in UP,” argued the SP leader.
Ram Gopal Yadav denied that his party has cut a deal with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading to walking out from the alliance. “Does meeting the prime minister amount to cutting a deal. Do the BJP and BSP MlAs meet the UP Chief Minister to cut a dealIJ Modi is the Prime Minister of the country and any leader can meet him,” he said.
Asked whether the issue of CBI probe against Noida chief engineer Yadav Singh was discussed with the Prime Minister and BJP chief Amit Shah, he said, “Why should we have any fear in the Yadav Singh case. An enquiry should be conducted if any person has committed irregularity, and others should also be probed. You as well as we all know who were the persons Yadav Singh was close to.”
Jolted by the SP’s decision, Sharad Yadav is now trying to salvage the situation. After holding an hour-long talk with Mulayam Singh late in the evening, the JD(U) chief said , “There was an alliance, there is an alliance and the alliance will remain. Everything will be sorted out and amicable solution would be found.”
He, however, refused to give the details of any compromise formula being worked out saying these things are not to be shared with the media.
Taking a jibe over the development, Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said the SP’s exit has proven that nobody wants to be with the JDU-RJD combine and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is increasingly showing signs of frustration. At a party briefing, the BJP also showed a video clipping where the Bihar CM is purportedly using rude language to some of his party workers.
Meanwhile, veteran RJD leader Raghunath Jha on Thursday resigned from his post and primary membership of the party, accusing party president lalu Prasad of ignoring senior leaders and putting entire focus on his family.
Considered the Brahmin face of the RJD, Jha, 76, a former Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise, said he is joining Samajwadi Party (SP).
In a letter sent to Prasad, Jha said, “I have been with you in thick and thin for the last 25 years. But, seeing your behaviour these days towards party workers and neglect towards me, I am resigning from the primary membership of the party and the post of its national vice-president.”
“I will now join Samajwadi Party (SP) and strengthen it in the State. My son Ajit Kumar Jha, who has twice been an MlA from Sheohar constituency will also follow suit,” he added.
In a related development, the NCP, which was first to pull out of the ‘grand alliance’ in Bihar, supported the decision of the SP to storm out of it saying it (NCP) was making efforts to forge a third front of smaller parties in the state.
“They (SP) have taken a right decision,” NCP General Secretary Tariq Anwar said here. Anwar, who is lok Sabha member from Katihar, said with Mulayam Singh Yadav walking out of the alliance “the efforts to bring back splinter parties into Janata Parivar have virtually come to an end.”
The NCP leader, whose party walked out of the alliance over being ignored in seat-sharing, said JD(U), RJD and Congress were virtually monopolising the grand secular alliance by “unilaterally” distributing large number of seats among themselves even without consulting NCP and SP.
“Sometimes we are blamed for weakening secular alliance by walking out but it’s not true. We are forced to do this due to monopolistic approach of JD(U), RJD and Congress,” he said.
The NCP leader said his party would love to enter into a tie-up with the SP after today’s development.