Mulayam outwits Ajit Singh, demands ‘merger’ against support

Yogesh Mishra

Lucknow: The speculation of a possible electoral alliance between ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Ajit Singh for the next Assembly polls has apparently come to an end.

After Ajit’s meeting with Mulayam and his brother Shivpal Singh Yadav in Delhi on Sunday last, it was almost confirmed that the Jat leader would be nominated to the Rajya Sabha with SP’s support. Sources believed that SP would either replace one of its candidates or it would find some other way out to nominate Ajit to the Rajya Sabha.

Later, Neta Ji set a condition and asked Ajit for merging his party with SP. The condition was, however, not accepted by the RLD president and the alliance broke before its formation.

Moreover, the SP chief was very well aware of the fact that Ajit, who earlier shook hands the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, was eyeing on nothing else but his own benefit from the party.

Singh has been looking for support for almost two years now. In January 2015, he offered support to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidates for Legislative Council elections, but the party chief Mayawati could not reciprocate in any way. Singh then attempted a tie-up with Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), but the negotiations failed as the two sides confirmed they were close to merger.