SP sees no gain from merger of Janata Parivar as party does not have stake in Bihar

NEW DELHI: The merger of the Janata Parivar – Janata Dal (U) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and hopefully the Samajwadi Party (SP) – to be announced this week like every wedding is not without its hitches and fears of a mésalliance. According to top sources in the JD(U), the attitude taken by Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Manjhi could lead to his removal.

Speculation is rife that Manjhi could be replaced by Nitish Kumar or Uday Choudhary, with Misa Bharati as deputy chief minister along with Abdul Bari Siddique of RJD getting an important position. “Manjhi was supposed to be a caretaker CM, but his statements and his actions of shifting officers considered close to Nitish Kumar out of the CM secretariat point to rising ambitions. It’s worrying,” said a senior JD(U) leader, refusing to comment on just when this change of guard could take place.

What is also a hindrance are reservations harboured by the Samajwadi Party. Despite a marriage be tween Mulayam Singh’s nephew Tej Pratap Singh ( MP from Mainpuri) and RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s daughter Raj Laxmi, the party remains noncommittal on a merger. Sources close to SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav told ET that he holds the opinion that the merger would not boost SP’s prospects in Uttar Pradesh, and since the party does not have stake in Bihar, electorally the merger was a dud.

“This merger is effective only in Parliament, either in standing firm on issues or in getting someone like Rabri Devi elected to the Rajya Sabha or getting JD(U) MP KC Tyagi re-elected to the Upper House,” said the source. The SP enjoys an overwhelming majority in the UP assembly, allowing it to send more members to the Upper House till 2017. “We get nothing in the bargain,” he added. Assembly elections are due in Bihar by the year-end.