JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav attends SP's convention, fuels speculation about joining hands with party

LUCKNOW: JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav today shared the dais with Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on the inaugural day of SP's national convention here, fuelling speculation about their joining hands.

Sharad Yadav said that he and Mulayam had always been "good friends" and he had come to attend the convention on the SP supremo's invitation.

"We have been together since early days. The Constitution has been dealt a severe blow in the present conditions. We have to save it," the JD(U) leader said at the start of the three-day convention.

Though Sharad Yadav refused to comment on a possible alliance with the SP, he had recently made it clear that he will make efforts to "bring together all those who were part of old Janata Parivar to fight the new political challenge".

JD(U) and its arch rival RJD, both offshoots of Janata Dal Parivar, have already joined hands to form an alliance in Bihar. In Kerala, Socialist Janata (Democratic) Party headed former Union Minister M P Veerendra Kumar too decided to merge with Janata Dal (United) last month.

Also efforts are on to bring on board splinter groups which are politically significant in other states.

The unity drive in the erstwhile Janata Parivar has come after the Narendra Modi juggernaut crushed Janata Dal (United) in Lok Sabha elections in Bihar with BJP-led combine winning 31 of 40 seats in the state.

There are indications of the rise of BJP in Kerala, Assam and West Bengal, the states where the saffron party did not perform well in past.