Patna,(BiharTimes): The coming together of six parties of the  erstwhile Janata Parivar may be a marriage of political  convenience. But perhaps more important is the coming  together of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and RJD  supremo, Lalu Prasad Yadav through a real marriage.

The former’s grand nephew, Tej Pratap, is going to marry  latter’s youngest daughter, Raj Lakshmi. So the two Yadav  satraps are, in a way, going to become ‘samdhi’––though not  directly. 

Though a couple of other daughters of Lalu are married to  political families yet they are no match to the one to which  Tej Pratap belongs. He is himself a Samajwadi Party MP from  Mainpuri in UP. He fought and won from one of the seats  vacated by Mulayam, who now represents only Azamgarh in Lok  Sabha. He contested from both the seats in the April-May 2014  election. 

With Lalu’s son Tej Pratap aspiring to play his part in  politics his name-sake in UP is likely to play more important  role in the future politics of that state.

Incidentally, Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh Yadav are two  most important leaders of the Janata Parivar, who still enjoy  mass following. They are going to play much more significant  role in the new upcoming party, likely to be named as the  Samajwadi Janata Dal.

Though Nitish Kumar still has some influence in Bihar,  leaders like Sharad Yadav has hardly any mass following. In  the absence of jailed Om Prakash Chautala his son Abhay  Chautala has a long way to go.
Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda is largely a spent force  in his home state, Karnataka, where his son, H D Kumaraswamy  has emerged as a leader. 

Thus the coming together of the Janata Parivar may  politically benefit the two Yadav leaders of Bihar and Uttar  Pradesh. With Yadavs still largely behind Lalu and Mulayam in  the respective states the BJP is a bit worried because it may  fail to woo this caste to its side.

Political observers are of the view that in the next Assembly  election in Bihar in 2015 and in UP in 2017 Yadavs may throw  their lot solidly behind the new outfit, the Samajwadi Janata  Dal. However, the caste may vote for the BJP in the  constituencies where the saffron party puts up Yadav as its  candidates.

The re-emergence of Lalu Prasad and his political as well as  matrimonial alliance with Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is likely  to head the new party, may to some extent, marginalize Nitish  Kumar, who has his own ambition. 

With Mulayam authorized to bring about the merger of six  parties it is clear as to who is going to play crucial role  in months to come. Nitish’s dream to emerge as an all-India  leader to counter prime minister Narendra Modi may not be  fulfilled.

The maximum he could achieve is that he may once again become  the chief minister of Bihar, which he already was till mid- May 2014. So it is back to square one for him.