Churn in SP may revive merger plans, hopes JD(U)

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) is keenly watching the unfolding feud in Samajwadi Party and believes that a realignment of forces within the Yadav family can revive its grand idea of a merger of 'Janata Parivar' parties.

It termed as "unfortunate" the bitter fight in the party on the election eve. "It is unfortunate. What is happening in the SP is its internal matter and I would not comment on this," former JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav said.

Its spokesperson K C Tyagi hoped that the two factions, one led by Shivpal Yadav who has also drawn support of the party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and another led by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, will bury the hatched so that the "communal forces" led by BJP can be defeated.

However, a few senior party leaders off the record said the internal churning in the SP could boost the unity talks.

The expulsion of Ram Gopal Yadav from the SP was cited by one of them as a "positive" development. He was seen as the main force within the party to have scuttled the merger plans after leaders like Nitish Kumar, Sharad Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav, RJD chief Lalu Prasad publicly announced such a decision in April 2015.