Shivpal Yadav in talks with BJP ministers, smaller parties for 'Secular Front'

Shivpal has often expressed that he is unhappy over being neglectedsince Akhilesh Yadav, his nephew and Mulayam Singh Yadav's son, took over as SP president. He said he can’t be ignored for too long.

SP leader Shivpal Yadav

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party MLA Shivpal Yadav, who has been sidelined by his party, is planning to float a new political outfit with smaller parties. Shivpal, seasoned politician with 40 years of experience, is attempting to form a secular front with the convergence of like-minded parties and independent MLAs in relation to which a Yogi Government minister met him yesterday at his residence. “I held a meeting with UP Minister Om Prakash Rabhar. In fact we had met sometime back in Banaras as well. So this is a good thing that small parties and communities who are being ignored are meeting me. We will forge an alliance with them and expand out Samajwadi Secular Morcha,” Shivpal told ABP News. Reports say three other UP BJP Ministers had also spoken to Shivpal on phone earlier this week. Shivpal’s exit and formation of a new political front will affect the SP-BSP-Cong alliance that is on the verge of partnering for 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Shivpal, however, did not openly comment where he would be contesting next year’s elections. He gave an imperceptible nod but refrained from verbally admitting that he is feeling suffocated in the Samajwadi Party. Shivpal has often expressed that he is unhappy over being neglectedsince Akhilesh Yadav, his nephew and Mulayam Singh Yadav's son, took over as SP president.  He said he can’t be ignored for too long. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh said he had set up a meeting between Shivpal with top BJP leaders, but it did not take place. Amar Singh, who has earlier made known his own desire to join the BJP, said Shivpal Singh skipped the scheduled meeting. "I have spoken to top BJP leaders for Shivpal. The time (of meeting) was also fixed but he did not turn up, Amar Singh told reporters here. Now, I have no political responsibility for him. I am not in touch with him," he was quoted by news agency PTI. When pressed for details, Singh told reporters that Shivpal Yadav lives nearby. You can talk to him," he added. At a public meeting, Shivpal’s brother and SP founder Mulayam Singh express his pain of not being given in the party. “While one is alive, no one gets respect.  May be after death he earns respect.”