'Opposition unity in UP only possible if...': Shivpal Yadav on Nitish Kumar's 2024 plan

New Delhi: Socialist leader Shivpal Yadav on Friday said the coming together of opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh is possible only if their leaders show "maturity" like the one witnessed in Bihar. A new government was installed in Bihar after the Janata Dal (United) snapped its ties with the BJP there and forged a new alliance with the RJD, Congress and four other parties. On the possibility of any such alliance in Uttar Pradesh, the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia president said, "Firstly, there should be maturity among leaders. Until and unless there is maturity among them, nothing can happen." "The leaders of Bihar showed maturity, hence, everything happened," he added in reply to a question as to whether the Bihar development would have any impact on Uttar Pradesh.

He, however, did not name any party or individual.

Asked about the chance of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar emerging as the opposition's face against Narendra Modi in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Yadav said, "He (Nitish) has become the chief minister for the eighth time. He is senior and along with that he is an old socialist."

When asked whether he will take the initiative to forge unity among political parties in UP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, he said there is still some time for it.

"We are a small party and at present, we are strengthening our organisation," he said.

Of late, Yadav has been attacking his nephew and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav for not showing political maturity in handling his opposition alliance partners in UP.

Yadav, who himself had won the recent UP polls on the SP ticket, parted ways with the party after prolonged bickering following the opposition's defeat in the Assembly polls earlier this year.

JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar on Wednesday took oath as the Bihar chief minister for a record eighth time, a day after snapping ties with the BJP-led NDA and joined hands with the RJD, Congress and four other parties to form a Mahagathbandhan government.

Though Nitish Kumar and his party doesn't have any influence in the most populous state, his joining hands with the RJD has prompted leaders here to think on similar lines to take on the BJP in the next general election.

Shivpal Yadav had played an active role some years back when Mulayam Singh Yadav had made an attempt to bring together leaders sharing a common socialist background.

Kumar and RJD president Lalu Prasad, as well as former Union minister Sharad Yadav, had made an effort to bring the socialists together.

The exercise helped Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar come together in the 2015 Bihar polls. Their reunion had resulted in a massive defeat of the BJP in the 2015 Bihar assembly elections.