Mulayam Singh Dials Nitish Kumar, Is Told He's Otherwise Engaged

Lucknow: Mulayam Singh Yadav pinged Nitish Kumar an invite to his big bash in Lucknow today only to be told the Bihar Chief Minister is otherwise engaged.

Mr Yadav, 76, is keen on presenting a line-up of powerful leaders to signal that they are close to structuring a Grand Alliance for Uttar Pradesh, similar to the one that won Mr Kumar the Bihar election a year ago.

But at that time, Mr Yadav spurned the team that included Mr Kumar's party and the Congress, alleging that he was not being given a fair share of seats to contest.

Sources close to Mr Kumar say that his RSVP for today's party in Lucknow is not payback; they point out that the other big boss from Mr Kumar's party, Sharad Yadav, is being dispatched to attend the 25th anniversary celebrations of Mr Yadav's Samajwadi Party. But they are also clear that given the state of Samajwadi disrepair, the Bihar Chief Minister does not want to take any sides till Mr Yadav gets his house in order.

For weeks, Mr Yadav has been politically trolling his son, Akhilesh, who is the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, aligning himself with his younger brother, Shivpal, who has devoted recent months to undermining the young Chief Minister.

The feud peaked at a Samajwadi conclave last month, where the three Yadavs exorcised months of frustration by decimating each other with allegations that included Akhilesh being tagged "a liar."

On Thursday, as Akhilesh launched his campaign for Uttar Pradesh, the senior Yadavs were present to flag off his souped-up Mercedes rath, in which he will travel the state to seek votes.

His father is keen on bringing together non-BJP parties. Earlier this week, he held prelim talks with election strategist Prashant Kishor, who is on loan from the Bihar government of Mr Kumar to the Congress for its bid in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

A combination of parties could also help in checking Mayawati, the popular Dalit leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP, who has increased her effort to woo Muslims who form 18% of Uttar Pradesh's population. Traditionally, they have backed the Samajwadi Party and, to a lesser extent in recent years, the Congress.

Meanwhile, Ajit Singh, who heads the Rashtriya Lok Dal, a party with considerable clout in Western Uttar Pradesh, has agreed to attend.