×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Mulayam's ambition jolted as SP draws nil

Last Updated 08 November 2015, 20:18 IST
The Bihar Assembly election results came as a huge  dampener for the Samajwadi Party-led front comprising some smaller outfits, including a group formed by Pappu Yadav, after drawing a blank.

Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav had nurtured a pan-Indian ambition and hoped to play a crucial role in national politics.

The SP had put up its candidates on 85 seats, especially in the region adjacent to Uttar Pradesh, but all its nominees had not only been defeated but had also lost their security deposits, according to sources in the party here on Sunday.

Both Mulayam and UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had campaigned in Bihar and had addressed few election meetings as well. The party had hoped to make a dent into the Yadav-Muslim vote bank of Lalu Yadav's  Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) but it did not fructify.

“Off course it is quite humiliating....clearly our attempt to corner a chunk of Yadav-Muslim votes did not succeed,” admitted a senior SP leader here while speaking to Deccan Herald.

The drubbing was painful for the party as the SP could easily have contested the five seats offered by the Grand Alliance.  The SP had made Bihar polls a “prestige issue” and had deployed a large number of ministers and senior leaders in the neighbouring state for campaigning. SP sources said that senior party leaders and ministers, especially those, who hail from the districts on Bihar border, had extensively campaigned in favour of the SP-led alliance nominees.

The SP had identified around two dozen seats in Bihar and had also given nominations to many leaders, who had crossed over to the party after being denied tickets from their parent parties.

Ironically it was Mulayam, who had formed the Grand Alliance initially and then quit it after being denied “adequate” number of seats. SP leaders admitted that their gamble had not paid off. 
ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 08 November 2015, 20:18 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT