Mukhtar ansari denies merger with SP agrees to forge alliance

Quami Ekta Dal (QED) MLA Mukhtar Ansari on Tuesday said a merger between his party and the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh for the 2017 Assembly election was "difficult" but did not rule out "forging an alliance" with the latter.

"The QED-SP merger is difficult now, but we can forge an alliance. However, the final decision in this regard will be taken by SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and QED president Afzal Ansari," he told reporters here after meeting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and senior SP leader Shivpal Yadav.

Mukhtar said the meeting, which lasted for over 45 minutes, was to apprise the two of the problems of his constituency.

"There were no talks of any merger," he said, adding that the QED wants to defeat the "communal forces" and the party's poll strategy "will be decided accordingly".

Meanwhile, QED president Afzal Ansari told PTI that he had not received any proposal or indication from the SP for the revival of the merger. "If they invite us, we will think about it," he said.

It may be recalled that on June 21, a merger between the two parties was announced at the SP headquarters in the presence of Shivpal. However, three days later, it was called off by the SP parliamentary board.