SP to fight alone, Mulayam trashes pre-poll alliance talks in UP

The ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) on Thursday announced it would fight the forthcoming 2017 UP polls on its own without any pre-poll alliance.

The announcement comes in the backdrop of high octane talks of SP trying to sew up a pre-poll alliance in poll bound UP with other like-minded parties and even Congress. Replying to a question in a conference call here, Mulayam, however, said SP would allow merger of other parties with itself.

He even said some parties would indeed merge with SP before polls, although he did not suggest any names.

Mulayam’s announcement is significant in the context of the erstwhile Janata Party constituents holding meetings in Lucknow and New Delhi over the prospects of an alliance to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at bay.

His younger brother and sacked UP cabinet minister Shivpal Singh Yadav has been vocally airing opinion in support of an alliance with Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) etc.

Besides, top SP functionaries including Mulayam, Shivpal and even UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had met Congress poll strategist Prashant Kishor over the last few days and weeks over the purported alliance talks.

In run up to 2014 Lok Sabha polls, there were talks of such a “secular” alliance, but SP had backed out in the last moment.