Mulayam Singh Yadav says ready to ally with Mayawati-led BSP

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav today suggested that if Lalu Prasad Yadav takes initiative, he does not mind joining hands with Mayawati-led BSP in Uttar Pradesh.

"If Laluji takes initiative in this regard, I don't have any issues in joining hands," the SP chief told reporters when asked about Lalu Prasad Yadav's suggestion that the BSP and SP should come together against the BJP in Uttar Pradesh.

Recently, after a gap of 23 years, arch-rivals Lalu Prasad Yadav and former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar formed a political alliance in Bihar against the BJP.

Soon after the alliance in Bihar was formed, the RJD chief proposed that the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party should also join hands to take on the BJP, which won 73 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha polls. BSP and SP had contested polls together in 1993 Assembly elections in 1993 but soon parted ways.

After the alliance broke, Yadav had termed it as a big political mistake for the Samajwadi party to have joined hands with the BSP.