Mulayam Singh: Can the mood spoiler be won back to the Grand Alliance?

Sources in the Janata Parivar said it was a known fact that Mulayam did not have any mass base in Bihar. Therefore, they said, they were not worried about any prospect of a loss of votes.

mulayam, mulayam singh yadav, bihar, bihar elections, janta parivar, samajwadi party, bihar janta parivar, bihar elections 2015, 2015 bihar elections, nitsh kumar, lalu prasad yadav, jdu, bihar news, bihar samajwadi party, samajwadi party bihar, india news

Mulayam Singh Yadav and JD(U) president Sharad Yadav at the SP chief’s residence in New Delhi on Thursday. (Source: PTI)

A day after the Samajwadi Party broke it off with the grand alliance in Bihar, RJD President Lalu Prasad Yadav descended on the capital to lend weight to the efforts being made by JD(U) Chief Sharad Yadav to placate Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Sources in the Janata Parivar said it was a known fact that Mulayam did not have any mass base in Bihar. His repeated attempts to wean away at least a section of the Yadav vote from Lalu had met with failure in the past. Nor had he been able to make any dent in the Muslim vote which had been by-and-large with Lalu. Therefore, they said, they were not worried about any prospect of a loss of votes.

However, they said, what worried them was that this development had spoiled the atmosphere which was building up in favour of the alliance. They said that the Janata Parivar had worked hard to forge a unity to send a clear message across to voters that Lalu and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had come together for good.

Story continues below this ad

It was because of the persuasive efforts of both Mulayam and Sharad Yadav that Lalu had accepted Nitish as the chief ministerial candidate of the alliance in the forthcoming assembly elections in Bihar. Just when they had managed to project a united face, Mulayam Singh had broken ranks with them. “It is this projection which has taken a beating due to the negative publicity which has come along side the SP move,” said insiders.

When asked if they were as confident as Sharad Yadav of being able to win Mulayam back, sources in the JD(U) said, “Not as much.” They had a feeling that Mulayam could swing either way. He could return to the Parivar and accept the five seats already offered to him by Lalu, or, may seek and get one or two more.

However, if his worries about CBI cases got the better of him, he could drift away and act as a spoiler in Bihar, notwithstanding his close relationship with Lalu.