Senior leaders of the ‘Janata Parivar’ are trying hard to address the differences that have emerged among six parties before the proposed merger. The convenor of negotiations between the leaders, Mulayam Singh Yadav convened a meeting here on Friday, which was conspicuous by the absence of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Though Nitish Kumar is supposed to be taking rest after a cataract surgery, there are indications that he is upset with the negotiations by the Rashtriya Janata Dal over the seat sharing in Bihar.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s statement welcoming former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi into the Janata Parivar has also not gone down well with the JD(U).

After the brief meeting, Prasad said the merger will take place in a smooth manner. He claimed that the process is on and there are no personal differences within the leadership. “I have no differences with anybody,” he said.

Prasad said the BJP is trying to woo the upper caste of Bihar. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks about shedding casteism, while BJP holds rallies of all castes in Bihar. They have nothing to show after one year in power,” he said. Prasad favours a grand alliance of JD(U), RJD, Congress and Left parties in the State. He also wants Manjhi’s newly floated outfit to be in the alliance.

Kumar, however, is weighing the pros and cons of such an alliance. There were also reports that the differences in the Samajwadi Party top leadership are also a reason for delaying the merger.

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