The big, fat political ‘merger’: 6 ex-Janata parties join hands ahead of Bihar polls, Mulayam to lead party

New Delhi: With an aim to send tremors across to the BJP, six parties from the former ‘Janata Parivar’ have finally come together and form a new political front, called the ‘Samajwadi Janata Party’, ahead of the Bihar polls.

Speaking at the press conference, Sharad Yadav said, “The decision of the new political group was unanimously taken by the leaders of JDU, SP, RJD, SJP, JDS and INLD”.

The six parties are Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD, Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party (SP), Om Prakash Chautala's Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Janata Dal (Secular) led by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda and Samajwadi Janata Party (SJP).

The development comes at a time when Bihar is headed for state Assembly elections later this year.

The proponents of the unity believe that a united Janata Parivar outfit could effectively stop the march of the BJP to power in the state.

The SP has apparently got its pound of flesh in the process of unification, with Yadav likely being the president of the party along with its election symbol and trademark red colour staying with the united outfit.

The decision comes ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections where Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of JD(U) and one time bitter rival RJD head Lalu Prasad have joined hands to take on a resurgent BJP, which had routed them in Lok Sabha elections in 2014. Both leaders were present at the joint press conference.

"It's a historic decision... We have united and we assure people that this will be a strong bond. We will respect the feelings of people," Mulayam said. He will also be the head of the parliamentary party of the new outfit.

According to reports, the newly formed party has chosen the bicycle as its election symbol.