The Hindu : Front Page : Mulayam, Lalu, Paswan join hands

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Friday, Mar 27, 2009
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Mulayam, Lalu, Paswan join hands

Gargi Parsai

We dominate secular space in north: Amar

NEW DELHI: The Samajwadi Party (SP), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJP) have decided to come together in a “secular alliance” to fight the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Besides joint campaigns by the leaders of these parties – Mulayam Singh, Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan – there is a proposal not to field candidates against one another.

The move is expected to consolidate backward class and Muslim votes to their advantage in the two States, which together account for 120 seats.

Announcing this here on Thursday, SP general secretary Amar Singh said his party would not contest any seat in Bihar, and it expected that the RJD and the LJP would not field candidates against it in Uttar Pradesh.

“We three are together. In north India, the SP, the RJD and the LJP have dominated the secular space. Just as the Congress is seeking to expand its base in Bihar and U.P. [with the failure of pre-poll alliances], the SP, RJD and LJP too have the right to keep their identity.”

Declaring that the SP would not campaign for the Congress, Mr. Singh said, “Let there be a struggle for existence and survival of the fittest.” The three leaders would make a formal announcement about their coming together at a function here on Monday.

Asked who would head the new alliance, he said there was no question of a president. “We will seek votes in the name of secularism.”

The announcement came after the Congress declared its intention to contest 37 of the 40 seats in Bihar and almost 60 of the 80 seats in U.P.

“Ventilator open”

Asked if there was any talk with the Nationalist Congress Party on its joining the “secular alliance,” Mr Singh said that NCP president Sharad Pawar, having formalised his alliance with the Congress in Maharashtra, “closed the door, but kept a ventilator open.”

Mr. Pawar met SP leaders on Tuesday. The party is seeking the Northwest seat in Mumbai, which falls in the Congress quota, for Abu Azim Azmi.

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