Janata merger won’t affect SP’s prospects in 2017: Mulayam

Justifying the merger of the six constituents of the erstwhile Janata Dal into a “Janata Parivar,” Mulayam Singh, who has been designated president of the still-to-be-named party, emphasised that in Uttar Pradesh the pre-eminent position is that of the Samajwadi Party’s.
“In the 2017 Assembly elections, the fight will be between the Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, there is no third party,” the Samajwadi Party president said at a function to mark the 89th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar at the party headquarters on Friday.
A section of the Samajwadi Party feared that once the new party is formed, the SP symbol, “cycle” would be frozen and it would impact the party’s performance in the 2017 elections. Even as Mr. Singh sought to dispel notions of the new alliance casting a shadow on the Samajwadi Party, he pointed to the “big challenge” which lay ahead.
In his first public appearance after the formation of the Janata Parivar, Mr. Singh slammed the NDA government for its arbitrary (manmani) style of functioning and said it was on grounds of political expediency that the six parties decided to come together. “It was felt that working independently is of no use,” he said.
Mr. Singh was hopeful that the new party would form the next government in Karnataka.
Stating that a “big responsibility” has been bestowed upon him, Mr. Singh said all the leaders were unanimous that the new party should be formed under him. The opinions of the other leaders would be sought and they would be given due respect.
Tributes to former PM
Mr. Singh recalled his long association with the former Prime Minister and said only Mr. Chandra Shekhar (and Chaudhary Charan Singh) thought about the development of Uttar Pradesh. He underplayed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on renovating the ghats in Varanasi and said the ghats in Varanasi and Prayag in Allahabad were initially developed by the Samajwadi Party government.