The Janata Parivar, which includes the Samajwadi Party (SP), Janata Dal-United (JDU), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) and the Samajwadi Janata Party, outlined the contours of their proposed merger on Wednesday.
Mulayam Singh Yadav will be the president of the new party, likely to be named Samajwadi Janata Dal.
The meeting of leaders of the six parties elected SP supremo Mulayam as the leader of the new party, while the decision on the name of the party, flag, programme, policies and symbol will be decided by a six-member panel headed by the president of the merged entity.
Sources in the group told
Though no deadlines have been set to complete the procedures, leaders indicated that the Bihar elections will be the first challenge before the party. Both Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad said the BJP will be defeated in the State. “This will be a solid front. We will give a new direction to the politics in the country,” Nitish said.
Lalu said there is no “ego problem” between him and Nitish. “Bihar elections are just days away. BJP’s return from Indian politics will begin from Bihar. They cannot fool people anymore with false promises,” the veteran socialist leader said.
Mulayam said the new party will fight against the communal polarisation of the country. “The top leadership of the Centre is presiding over communal polarisation in the country. MPs and MLAs of the BJP are openly creating division among people. They are attacking minorities. But no one in the government is controlling them,” he added.
Attacking the BJP, he said this government is the first in history that does not care for the views of opposition parties. “They had given a number of promises to people, but not a single one is fulfilled. It has been one year since the formation of this government,” he said.
The Janata leaders also indicated that they will crisscross the country, showcasing the “promises” of the Modi government. “We already had a number of joint programmes against the Centre. We will strengthen our protests,” Nitish said.
The State-level mergers may also take time. For example, in Kerala, the JD(U) with two MLAs is part of the ruling UDF while the JD(S) with four MLAs is with the Opposition LDF.
“In Kerala, we want to remain with the LDF,” said JD(S) leader Danish Ali.
The leaders have decided informally that the new party will keep the same distance from both the BJP and the Congress.