Six Janata parties to consider merging under Mulayam Yadav's leadership

Leaders of six Janata parties are meeting here today to discuss a merger under the leadership of Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The meeting has assumed importance in the wake of the assembly elections in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to be held later this year and in 2017 respectively.

Talk of the big merger happening is being made a day after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah launched a campaign for polls in Bihar.

Shah used the occasion of a BJP rally to mock the proposed merger, describing the so-called 'Janata Parivar' as "zero plus zero remains a zero" and asserting that BJP would come to power in the state.

As per reports, the new entity is likely to be named either Samajwadi Janata Party or Samajwadi Janata Dal with the cycle as its symbol.

The meeting will take place at Mulayam Sing Yadav's residence in the national capital.