UP assembly polls: After setting Oct 11 deadline, Shivpal Yadav now says pact with Samajwadi Party top priority

Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party president Shivpal Singh Yadav on Wednesday said his first priority was to form alliance with Samajwadi Party for the assembly polls early next year even though he did not rule out the possibility of a tie-up with other "secular" parties. Yadav's statement was seen as a mellowing of sorts after he had last month declared October 11 as the "deadline" for Akhilesh to take a decision on this front, post which, he had said, he will begin preparations to field candidates on all 403 seats.

Speaking to reporters in Agra, Yadav said for alliance, his first priority will be SP, but he may also consider forming an alliance with any party with a "secular ideology" with an aim to "defeat the BJP government in UP". A day ago, both Akhilesh and Shivpal took out their respective "rath yatras" from Kanpur and Mathura, respectively. Shivpal also said that the 'Samajik Parivartan Rath Yatra' that began in Mathura will conclude in Ayodhya after going through the 75 districts of the state.

While SP insiders refrain from commenting on alliance prospects due to what they say is the Yadavs' "internal family matter", Akhilesh has, on multiple forums said that the SP will not field candidates on the Jaswantnagar constituency seat in Etawah, where Shivpal is MLA from, pointing to an "adjustment", without, however commenting on whether the two parties will ally.


Shivpal Yadav broke away from the SP in 2018 and formed his own political group - Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party - following a fallout with his nephew and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.