Close on the heels of the assemblage of former constituents of the erstwhile Janata Parivar, the families of two prominent members of the “parivar” — Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh and Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad — on Sunday took a firm step to strengthen their relationship by announcing a matrimonial alliance between the two families.
Mr. Prasad’s youngest daughter Raj Laxmi is set to marry Mr. Mulayam Singh’s grand nephew and Mainpuri MP Tej Pratap Yadav. The wedding is likely to be held in 2015. It will mark the coming together of two prominent political families of U.P. and Bihar.
The former Bihar Chief Minister, accompanied by his close family members, was in Lucknow on Sunday to perform the pre-marriage ceremony — “ shagun ”, or “ roka ” — at the Samajwadi Party president’s residence. Mr. Prasad was received at the Amausi airport by Mulayam’s younger brother and Public Works Department Minister, Shivpal Singh Yadav.
Mr. Prasad told reporters that the engagement would be held in Delhi on December 16.
On the decision to forge a political alliance of the RJD, the SP, the Janata Dal (United) and the Janata Dal (Secular), the former Bihar Chief Minister said they had united to “expose the BJP.” The alliance would prove to be strong and efforts would be made to bring together the other constituents of the Janata Parivar.
The ceremony was a family affair with only prominent members of the two political families present. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who was in Delhi in connection with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Chief Ministers, was not present, SP sources said.
The political association of the two leaders dates back to the days of the Janata Party. When the Janata Dal was formed in the late 1980s, both emerged as Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in 1989 and 1990.
