Eye on 2019, Akhilesh Yadav reaches out to Lalu Prasad

LUCKNOW: After joining hands with BSP in the recent bypolls in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party has decided to reach out to RJD, with Akhilesh Yadav deputing party’s vice-president Kiranmoy Nanda to meet Lalu Prasad and his son Tejashwi in Ranchi, in order to cobble together a grand-alliance to fight BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

In a major setback to BJP, The SP-BSP combine trounced the saffron party at its hustings in Gorakhpur and Phulpur recently. The SP move is being seen as the beginning of coming together of regional satraps against a common political rival — BJP.

The meeting with Lalu will take place on March 24 either at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences where the RJD chief had to be admitted on Saturday following complaint of chest pain, or at Birsa Munda Jail in Ranchi. “We have already taken permission from jail authorities. After meeting Laluji, I will meet Tejashwi. It is a courtesy call,” Nanda told TOI on Sunday.


Claiming that RJD has always supported SP, he said, “Laluji has stood by SP without any electoral interest and had earlier attended party events, too. I’ll carry a message of opposition unity on behalf of Akhilesh Yadav.”

“The BJP government at the Centre has taken the country for a ride. Before the 2014 Lok Sabha poll, it had promised to double the income of farmers and give jobs to unemployed youths, but it hasn’t kept its promises. It is time for parties to come together,” Nanda said.