Few keen on alliance with divided SP; All eyes on Akhilesh yatra today

NEW DELHI: A 'united' Samajwadi Party is key to any alliance in Uttar Pradesh as no party, including Congress, wants to deal with a divided house fearing the alliance may well implode at the time of seat-sharing.

Functionaries aware of the ongoing talks said a keen eye is being kept on the events in Lucknow on Thursday where Mulayam Singh Yadav is expected to flag off the Yatra of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

“Will Shivpal Singh Yadav be present at the flag-off ? Mulayam left for Lucknow on Wednesday after a meeting with the Congress strategist Prashant Kishor in Delhi in the presence of Amar Singh - who is at logger-heads with Akhilesh. All parties, Congress, RLD and JD(U) are watching these developments keenly...the whole matter is very fluid presently,” a senior political leader told ET. In any case, he said, a SP-RLD-JD(U) alliance is expected first as Congress is weighing its options.

Nitish Kumar has said no to participation in the SP silver jubilee function in Lucknow on Saturday, citing the Chatth festival. Senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav and RLD leader Ajit Singh are still to confirm their trip to Lucknow while Lalu Prasad will travel to Lucknow. The Congress leadership, Sonia Gandhi and UP General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, last week met Sharad Yadav for exploring an alliance in UP. “If SP remains a divided house, there will be no agreement on seat sharing as Shivpal and Akhilesh factions will never agree on which and how many seats to spare for other partners,” a political leader said.

These issues could be discussed if RLD and JD(U) leaders visit Lucknow on November 5 on the invitation of Shivpal Yadav. The SP has 229 MLAs in a house of 403 and is not expected to settle for any lesser seats to contest – it may be looking at over 250 seats, sources say. The key remains if Congress would be willing to compromise on less than 100 seats with the rest falling in the kitty of the RLD and the JD(U). “There is no mahagathbandan possible in UP like Bihar (where the two major parties JD(U) and RJD joined hands) as BSP and SP are not coming together.

It can only be an SP-led alliance at best,” a leader said.