Differences with SP on Bihar polls will be sorted out: JD(U)

New Delhi, September 3

JD(U) today said it will sort out differences with Mulayam Singh Yadav over seat sharing in Bihar after Samajwadi Party today pulled out of the 'grand alliance' in the poll-bound state saying it felt "humiliated", days after NCP quit the anti-BJP coalition.

Party president Sharad Yadav merely said "the country is full of internal contradictions" when asked whether it was a major setback to his attempt to bring all non-BJP parties together.

The SP today announced its decision to leave the alliance saying it felt "humiliated" as it was not consulted while deciding seats and would contest the Assembly election in the state on its own. The NCP had pulled out of the alliance last month even as Left parties have decided to contest Bihar polls separately.

Soon after the SP announced in Lucknow that it will contest Bihar election separately, the JD-U chief told a press conference here said he will find a "solution" after talking to "Bhai (brother) Mulayam".

"I have seen that. But let me tell you our alliance will remain. We will talk. We will find a solution. I will not go into details but let me assure you it will not hurt our alliance.

"We are old very old colleagues. I have to talk to Bhai (brother) Mulayam. I have talked to him once. I will talk to him again. We will resolve this finally," Yadav said.

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav is also the leader of the proposed umbrella party of six erstwhile constituents of Janata Parivar.

The JD-U leader dismissed suggestions of the SP "playing into the hands of the BJP".

"This angle is not correct. Mulayam Singh Yadav is not someone new. There was a time when he had even got the acronym of Maulana Mulayam. Please do not take out any such meaning.

Political leaders meet among themselves. Even I meet leaders of many parties. Does that I mean I am working in tandem with them.

"We will solve it since a probem as arisen. You have to see the country is full of internal contradictions," Yadav said.

He was responding to a question whether he suspects that the SP was playing the BJP script by walking out of the alliance in Bihar. Mulayam Singh Yadav had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi some time back while party General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav reportedly met BJP chief Amit Shah on Monday before a meeting of NDA constituents.

Ram Gopal Yadav announced the party's decision to quit the alliance alleging that the bigger parties in Bihar did not consult it while declaring seats.

The SP leader said the party was not happy with the paltry two or five seats offered out of the 243 in the state Assembly.

On the future of 'Janata Pariwar', he said at that time itself he had stated that he would not sign the "death warrant" of the party. —PTI