Shivpal speaks of ‘grand alliance’ for UP elections

LUCKNOW: The ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh, which is fighting a bitter family feud, floated on Wednesday the idea of a “mahagathbandhan” or grand alliance of political parties to collectively take on the BJP in next year’s assembly polls.

The idea has the approval of party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, who had walked out of a similar alliance between the Janata Dal (United) of Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress in Bihar ahead of elections there in 2015.

The SP state unit chief, Shivpal Yadav, left for New Delhi on Wednesday to invite leaders of JD(U), RJD and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) for the party’s silver jubilee function on November 5 in Lucknow.

Besides the invitation for the event, he is supposed to invite the leaders for a Bihar type “mahagathbandhan” that defeated the BJP.

“Netaji [Mulayam] has authorised me to hold discus sions with all Lohiawadi, Charan Singhwadi and Gandhiwad leaders and bring secular parties on a platform to prevent commu nal forces from coming to power in UP,” Shivpal said.