New Delhi, Sept 4: Taken aback by the surprise exit of Samajwadi Party from Bihar’s anti-BJP coalition, JD(U) president Sharad Yadav and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Friday met Mulayam Singh Yadav to salvage the alliance but failed to get any assurance from the SP supremo.
JD(U) and RJD scrambled to rescue the ‘grand alliance’ after Samajwadi Party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav’s sudden announcement in Lucknow Thursday that his party was walking out of it as it felt “humiliated” after not being consulted by larger partners in the state over seat sharing.
“Talks are on. Talks will continue. The entire 200 seats (100 each of RJD and JD-U) belong to Netaji (Mulayam) and Samajwadi Party. When came together, a message went in the country that we will defeat the BJP.
“He (Mulayam) is our guardian. He has all the more responsibility to ensure this (that the alliance continues). Communalism is a threat to the country. Everyone wants to finish it. We have told Netaji to reconsider it so that a socialist and secular government is formed in Bihar,” Lalu, who rushed to Delhi from Patna for the rescue job, told reporters after a two-hour meeting with Mulayam where Sharad Yadav was also present.
Under the seat-sharing formula, JD(U) was allotted 100 seats, RJD 98 and Congress 40 in the 243-member assembly, while the remaining five were left for SP, which it found inadequate.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, SP leaders said Mulayam was not comfortable with being seen in the company of Congress, a rival in politics of Uttar Pradesh where JD(U) or RJD hardly have any stakes. Being seen with Congress president Sonia Gandhi at election rallies would not go down well with SP supporters, they said.
The SP chief was also roundly criticised by Sonia for pushing for smooth functioning of Parliament when Congress had stalled the proceedings over the Lalit Modi issue, Land Bill and Vyapam.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has exuded confidence that the issue would be resolved and SP would return to the “secular grouping”.
“We are trying to figure out as to what happened that SP took the decision to quit the grand secular alliance,” he said.
“We worked very hard for merger of splinter parties of old Janata Parivar which due to some reasons could not be achieved. But, that is another issue,” Nitish added.
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