Leaders of the new 'Janata Parivar' at a meeting in Delhi. (PTI Photo)
Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal today gave its formal nod for the merger of the six parties of the erstwhile Janata Parivar, a move that has been in the offing for a few months now but is yet to take concrete shape. The announcement came after a four hour long national executive meeting of the party in Patna today.
Mr Yadav, said "the six parties of the erstwhile Janata Parivar have already merged, in a way. It will be one party, with one symbol and one flag. A formal announcement to this effect will be made by Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav soon."
"We will discuss the technicalities with our people across Bihar as soon as the announcement is done. Whatever election symbol we choose, will be decided by Mulayam ji," said Mr Yadav, who has forged a personal relationship with the SP chief following his daughter Raj Lakhshmi's marriage with Mr Yadav's grand-nephew Tej Pratap Yadav.
Sources say the top leaders of the erstwhile Janata Party will soon take a call on whether to name the merged entity the Samajwadi Janata Party or Samajwadi Janata Dal.
Mr Yadav said that the merger will ensure BJP's defeat in the coming assembly elections in Bihar. "The whole country is watching the upcoming Bihar elections. The BJP is mighty scared," he said.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been a driving force behind the merger, at least between the RJD and the JD(U) in Bihar, as he feels the numerical strength of both parties need to be together to take on the BJP in Bihar
The merger of the former Janata Parivar parties had been in the offing following their disastrous performance in the Lok Sabha elections last year. The SP, the ruling party of Uttar Pradesh, won just five seats in the Lok Sabha, Nitish Kumar's JD(U), the ruling party in Bihar, won only two.
Mulayam Singh had made several attempts to stitch together a Third Front of non-Congress and non-BJP parties.