Mulayam Yadav Pulls Out of Bihar Alliance, Will Fight State Election Alone

Mangalore Today News Network

Lucknow, Sep 03, 2015:  Consolidating his reputation as a mercurial ally, Mulayam Singh Yadav today said that his Samajwadi Party will fight the Bihar election alone; he has exited "the Grand Alliance" that was formed with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, regional heavyweight Lalu Yadav, and the Congress.

 

The parties had combined in an attempt to block the BJP, whose campaign is being led by the Prime Minister, from winning the state.

Mr Yadav said he had not been consulted about how seats for the election were being divided between the parties he had teamed with. His Samajwadi Party has neither any state legislators, nor parliamentarians from Bihar - so the break-up’s import lies in a dent to the stated unity of parties that have grouped against the BJP.

Mr Kumar, who has already served back-to-back terms as Chief Minister, is running as the candidate of the non-BJP alliance, which held its first show of strength on Sunday in Patna. Mr Kumar, Lalu Yadav and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi all addressed the large rally. Mr Yadav had deputed Shivpal Yadav as his party’s representative.

The dates for the Bihar election are to be announced shortly.

The Prime Minister had held four public meetings, drawing huge audiences. The BJP and its three allies have decided that the PM will ask for votes directly for him, and not for a presumptive Chief Minister. This has pitched the election in Bihar to a full-blown confrontation between Mr Kumar and Mr Modi, who have, for years, and through a lengthy alliance of their parties, made no secret of their disregard for each other.

Mr Kumar has alleged that as Gujarat Chief Minister, the PM failed to do enough to stop the communal riots of 2002 (a Supreme Court inquiry has concluded that is not correct). When the BJP decided to pick Mr Modi as its candidate for PM, Mr Kumar ended their parties’ 18-year-long alliance.

 

Courtesy: NDTV