This Article is From Mar 30, 2015

Janata Parivar Merger Likely by April-End: Sources to NDTV

Janata Parivar Merger Likely by April-End: Sources to NDTV

Leaders of the new 'Janata Parivar' at a meeting in Delhi. (File Photo)

New Delhi:

The merger of Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal United is likely to happen by the end of April, sources told NDTV. Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who  is likely to head the new party, will begin the final round of consultations tomorrow with members of all the parties

Sources say the top leaders of the erstwhile Janata Party will soon take a call on whether to name the merged entity the Samajwadi Janaa Party or Samajwadi Janata Dal.
The merger of the former Janata Parivar parties had been in the offing following their disastrous performance in the Lok Sabha elections last year. The SP, the ruling party of Uttar Pradesh, won just five seats in the Lok Sabha, Nitish Kumar's JD(U), the ruling party in Bihar, won only two.

The RJD chief, Lalu Prasad, who made the announcement in December last year, said the merger will ensure BJP's defeat in the coming assembly elections in Bihar. "It is a permanent alliance. We have been missing it for long," he had said.

Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were neighbouring states and shared a "relationship of hearts", said Mr Prasad, who has forged a personal relationship with the SP chief following his daughter Raj Lakhshmi's marriage with Mr Yadav's grand-nephew Tej Pratap Yadav.

Mulayam Singh had made several attempts to stitch together a Third Front of non-Congress and non-BJP parties. But it had also involved the Left. This time, instead of the Left, the two Yadavs are trying to bring three other smaller parties under the same banner - the Janata Dal (Secular), the Indian National Lok Dal and the Samajwadi Janata Party.

Sources say that leaders of the three parties have been meeting their counterparts in other non-Congress, non-BJP parties. They claimed the Left Front has already pledged to support to the merged entity.

They are also enthused by the warm response from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal - who is also the chief of the Aam Aadmi Party - during his meeting with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

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