he first family of the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh may be at loggerheads, but its chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav is having extraordinary success in herding his ideological cohorts in other socialist parties together for SP’s silver jubilee celebrations on November 5, to be held in Lucknow.
Mr Yadav’s brother and president of SP’s State unit Shivpal Yadav met senior Janata Dal (U) leaders Sharad Yadav and K.C. Tyagi in New Delhi on Wednesday evening and spoke to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar inviting them for the function, even as talk grows strong of a grand alliance of these parties for the upcoming assembly polls.
Mr Shivpal Yadav also spoke to Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh, ostensibly to invite him for the function.
The SP had, ironically, broken away from the erstwhile Janata Dal in 1991 to take its present form, and it seems that at a time when Mr Mulayam Singh is feeling particularly besieged because of his son and U.P. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s open revolt, he is seeking comfort from old comrades.
‘Same stream’Mr. Tyagi, a former general secretary of the SP before joining the Janata Dal (U), told The Hindu that he and Mr Sharad Yadav were going to attend the function in Lucknow. Despite being busy with Chhatt (a festival popular in Bihar) falling at that time, Mr Kumar assured Mr. Yadav that he would “try his best to be there.”
“Mulayam Singh is the senior most leader of socialist stream, and we will be present at this function... to get together followers of Ram Manohar Lohia and (former PM) Chaudhary Charan Singh. We all belong to that ideological strand,” Mr. Kumar pointed out.
