With Bihar elections over, the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh is ready to repair its family as well as political ties with RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Political relations between the Samajwadi Party and the RJD had been somewhat strained after Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav pulled out of the JD(U)-RJD alliance in Bihar at the last minute and decided to pit his party against the former.
Soon after the JD(U)-RJD alliance recorded a massive victory in the Bihar elections, Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav announced that he would start an aggressive campaign against “divisive forces” in UP and his campaign would begin from Varanasi. Senior UP minister Shivpal Singh Yadav, when asked to comment, said, “We will welcome Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav as a samdhi when he comes to Varanasi.” (Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav’s daughter Raj Lakshmi is married to Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s nephew Tej Pratap Yadav, who is an MP from Mainpuri.)
Sources said that Mr Lalu Yadav’s campaign in UP will directly target the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi but the RJD chief will also make a covert attempt to position the grand alliance as a political alternative to the BJP for the 2017 Assembly elections.
Since the RJD-Congress ties are already in place, this would hurt the Samajwadi Party which is averse to any alliance with the Congress. Mr Lalu Yadav’s campaign, after the Bihar victory, could damage the ruling Samajwadi Party by dividing its Yadav votes.
Mr Shivpal Singh Yadav, however, denied this and said, “The people of Bihar has given him (Lalu) the mandate and have also exposed the BJP government at the Centre for its fake promises on the development issue. In UP, the Samajwadi government has done a great deal of development which is visible even though the Centre has not given us our share of financial aid. We have fulfilled all promises made in our manifesto.”
Mr Shivpal Yadav, however, parried questions related to a possible tie-up between the RJD and the SP in the 2017 UP Assembly elections.
