Lalu meets Mulayam, bid to mend SP-Congress ties

Their first meeting took place on the sidelines of a function in the Capital. This was followed by another meeting in which the two reportedly discussed ways to give shape to their understanding.

“It was a political meeting,” confirmed SP sources on condition of anonymity.

While Lalu’s agenda focused on getting SP to avoid playing a spoilsport for RJD in Bihar, where Lalu faces an uphill task against JD(U) Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Mulayam’s move is aimed at creating a working relationship with the Congress.

With Lalu being one of the trusted Congress supporters in the UPA, his meeting Mulayam is apparently aimed less at minimising his losses in UP, but sending a signal to the Congress.

“A majority of Samajwadi Party MPs feel that the party’s ties with the Congress should not be destroyed, although it should maintain a distance from the Congress in the current political situation at the Centre,” said an SP leader aware of the meetings between the two leaders.

Samajwadi Party’s anxiety is also borne out by the fact that many SP MPs think that the party had lost substantial minority votes because of a “misperception” created in the media about party’s relations with the BJP during the Assembly elections, said an SP leader. The SP hopes to regain its credibility within the minority community by getting Congress alongside as it fights Mayawati.