Janata Parivar set to flex muscles

New Delhi: Six splinter groups of the old Janata Parivar are all set to unveil a unified outfit, Samajwadi Janata Party, before Parliament reconvenes later this month.

Eyeing the space “vacated” by the Congress, the new outfit plans to rope in other regional forces to forge a pan-India alliance against the Bharatiya Janata Party, with Trinamul supremo Mamata Banerjee and NCP strongman Sharad Pawar said to be ready to join it.

While the seemingly existential crisis faced by the JD(U) and RJD in Bihar triggered the process of unification, the Samajwadi Party has ensured its stamp on the new outfit, at least in its leadership, election symbol and flag.

“The symbol will be a bicycle and the flag red and green in colour, with two circles joined. SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav will be president of the new party,” said JD(U) general secretary K.C. Tyagi. The bicycle is the symbol of the Samajwadi Party, and red is its trademark colour, while green is borrowed from the flag of the INLD.

The new outfit plans a big show of strength at Patna’s politically-significant Gandhi Maidan after the Budget Session of Parliament, that may be attended by Ms Banerjee and Mr Pawar.

However, the proposed Janata Parivar will not make much impact in Uttar Pradesh since the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Bahujan Samaj Party have decided against joining the formation.

“There are no talks, no proposal and no possibility,” said former RLD MP Jayant Chaudhary when asked whether his party would like to be a part of the new Janata Parivar.

“Earlier, the Janata Parivar was very big, but with time there have been changes in politics and the groups have grown apart,” he said.

Sources in the RLD, meanwhile, said that the leadership of Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav was not acceptable to RLD leaders and the leaders of both parties were not known to be on the best of terms. The BSP, on the other hand, has firmly ruled out the possibility of joining “any front” — more so a one led by Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav.