Buoyed by Jat support in bypoll show, Mulayam snubs Chautala, Ajit Singh

“We have received confirmations from the offices of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik, former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and others for the upcoming rally, but have not received any communication from the SP office regarding Mulayam Singh’s participation,” said RLD spokesperson Mukesh Jain.

SP leaders have claimed that the party got substantial votes of the Jat community in west UP during recently held byelections to 11 Assembly seats, leaving ‘Netaji’ confident that they do not need an alliance with the RLD to secure the support of their traditional vote bank.

“Ajit Singh is on a ventilator and is struggling hard for his political survival. He is trying to get support of the SP not only for the Mission -2017 in Uttar Pradesh but also for securing a seat in the Rajya Sabha with support of the ruling party in the state. A few seats of the Upper House are getting vacated in November and Ajit will be falling short of the magic figure even with support of the Congress,” Gopal Agarwal,a veteran SP leader and also the state chief of the party’s trader cell, told The Indian Express.