Lalu,Mulayam,Paswan join hands

With the ruling Congress keeping three of its crucial UPA allies - the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party...

With the ruling Congress keeping three of its crucial UPA allies the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party,Lalu Prasad Yadav-led RJD and Ram Vilas Paswan-led LJP in the lurch by deciding to go it alone in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections,the three parties have decided to join forces for a secular alliance with an eye on post-poll bargaining with the Congress.

SP general secretary Amar Singh on Thursday announced that the leaders of all these three parties were likely to formally announce their coming together here on March 30,also the last day for filing nominations for the first phase of elections in these states.

Since the Congress has the right to contest all the 120 seats from both these states,we also have the right to contest all these seats. It is going to be the survival of the fittest. We three are together. We will fight jointly in North India. We will not clash with each other in the two states, Singh declared.

While the SP has decided to withdraw its five candidates in Bihar,Singh said Ram Vilas Paswan,who had fielded VP Singhs son in UPs Fatehpur,has decided to withdraw his candidate. How can we ask to vote for the UPA,when the Congress has decided to go alone in 120 seats? asked Singh when asked about their support to the ruling alliance. We will try unitedly to win as many seats as possible in both these states, he added.

Addressing a joint rally in Bihars Nawada,RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav and and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan reiterated that they would not field candidates against the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh while the SP has withdrawn its candidates from Bihar. Paswan said: Mulayam Singhji will campaign for us,while Laluji and I will campaign for the SP.

Paswan made it clear that alliance with SP did not mean they were going out of the UPA. We are still key UPA allies and want Dr Manmohan Singh as the next PM. Lalu said the RJD and the LJP stand together with the SP to defeat the NDA.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar,however,said Mulayam had always helped Lalu but never got anything in return. The move holds significance in view of the anxiety generated among these three regional parties after they failed to reach an electoral understanding with the ruling Congress. Sources in these parties said the move is aimed at hedging their positions in the post-poll scenario.

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While the SP is pitted against the Mayawati-led BSP in UP,where the latter appears to have edge,the RJD-LJP alliance is also pitted against a relatively strong Nitish Kumar-led NDA alliance. The poll preparations suffered a jolt after the Congress decided against joining ranks with them in the elections. By closing their ranks,the parties,the sources said,are trying to send a message of unity against supposedly better placed rivals in their respective home turfs.