Janata 2.0

The Janata Dal splinter groups bit the bullet and announced that they will merge into one party headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav, clearing the way for a direct contest between the new outfit, represented by chief minister Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad, and the BJP in the important Bihar elections scheduled for later this year.
The parties merging are, Samajwadi Party , JD(U), Lalu Prasad's RJD, INLD of Om Prakash Chautala, JD(S) of H D Deve Gowda and SJP of Kamal Morarka. At a meeting at Mulayam Singh's residence, the leaders deferred a decision on the ticklish issues of name, election symbol and flag. A committee, headed by Mulayam and comprising Deve Gowda, Sharad Yadav, Lalu Prasad, Chautala, Ram Gopal Yadav and Morarka, has been given the task of working out these issues. Indications are that SP's symbol “cycle“ and flag (green-red band) would be adopted by the new outfit while the name is likely to be Samajwadi Janata Dal. The other crucial question, of course, will be who will be the Bihar CM candidate, Nitish Kumar or Lalu Prasad.
The merger is most significant for Bihar as it will have a major bearing on the upcoming Bihar elections. These polls are crucial for BJP . Having been trounced in the Delhi elections, the party would be looking to regain its momentum. The prospect of that has become more difficult as a coalition of OBCs and Muslims would be a formidable electoral combination.
Mulayam has been named the head of the party as well as the parliamentary board. One key appointment on the table is leader in the two houses of Parliament. It is tricky in RS with JD(U) president Sharad Yadav and Samajwadi biggie and Mulayam's brother Ramgopal Yadav as contenders.
Another key issue is if the party would announce a CM candidate for Bihar, although incumbent Nitish Kumar appears to be a natural choice.
Ramgopal did not attend the meeting, and that is being seen as reservations in the Samajwadi camp over the merger.However, MSY said he was busy with a family engagement.
The announcement on merger ended the suspense over the unification of Janata outfits since the proposal was floated six months ago. However, there appears to have been sudden pressure to clinch the issue in view of approaching Bihar polls.
With merger announced, Mulayam and Lalu said their party would work to “break the arrogance“ of Modi government, accusing it of failing to fulfill the poll promises and instead working to polarise the society .
None of these regional outfits have overlapping turfs except for JDU and RJD. After BJP swept the LS polls, sworn enemies Nitish and Lalu came together in assembly and appeared set to contest state polls together. But fighting under one banner, it was felt, would nudge their antagonistic supportbase to collaborate as colleagues. Congress had already indicated that it would prefer a strong “secular“ alliance.