Nitish unlikely to participate in SP silver jubilee function

Even though Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav has extended an invitation to Nitish Kumar to attend the party’s 25th anniversary, the probability of the Bihar chief minister attending the jamboree seems remote.

Mulayam, through his brother Shivpal Singh Yadav, has invited all the erstwhile Janata Dal leaders to attend the SP’s silver anniversary function in Lucknow on November 5. The veteran leader, firefighting the trouble within his family, has expressed eagerness to bring all socialists under one roof, and has therefore, urged RJD president Lalu Prasad, Janata Dal chief Nitish Kumar and Janata Dal (S) president H D Deve Gowda to attend the jamboree, which is perceived to be a show of strength for the Uttar Pradesh regional satrap before the state goes to polls early next year.

Unlike Lalu, who has a soft corner for Mulayam since the former’s youngest daughter Raj Laxmi is married to the SP supremo’s grand nephew Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, Nitish has no such affinity towards the SP.

Sources in the ruling party here argue that Nitish has not been able to forgive Mulayam for ditching him at the last moment during the 2015 Bihar elections, where the SP chief had even questioned his secular credentials.

Not only this, Mulayam had tried to scuttle Nitish’s chances of emerging triumphant by fielding SP nominees for all the seats in Bihar.

Congress scotches alliance talk

The Congress moved quickly to snuff out all talk of an alliance for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, even as party legislators favoured joining hands with the Samajwadi Party, DHNS reports from New Delhi.

Congress has placed huge bets on Uttar Pradesh, a state where it has been out of power for nearly three decades. Congress leaders said it was “highly unlikely” that the party would like to set aside its efforts of a revival of the organisation in the state.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi spent almost a month in Uttar Pradesh, touring every nook and corner to understand the problems faced by farmers and youth.

“We have been holding the SP, BSP and BJP squarely responsible for shifting the paradigm of development to that of division,” Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters here.