UP BJP President meets SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav

Lucknow, Aug 30 (UNI) In a surprise move, Uttar Pradesh BJP president Swantatra Deo Singh paid a visit to the residence of Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav at his residence here on Monday.

BJP sources here said that Mr Singh made a courtesy visit to the residence of Mulayam Singh Yadav to enquire about his health.

Mr Singh too tweeted about his visit to the residence of Mulayam Singh Yadav.

But other sources hinted that the UP BJP president could have went to invite the SP founder to attend the condolence meeting of Kalyan Singh to be held in the state capital tomorrow.

BJP leaders had criticised SP for not attending the funeral nor cremation of Kalyan Singh, who died in Lucknow on August 21.

Mulayam Singh Yadav had a good relationship with Kalyan Singh and both had joined hands before the 2009 Lok Sabha polls in the state.
But later Mulayam had termed as “a big mistake” his tie-up with Kalyan Singh.

Mr Yadav had said, “I admit that it was a big mistake on my part to have allied with a leader accused of demolition of Babri mosque. Later, we parted company but I had the moral courage to admit my mistake and apologise to my party.”

Mr Yadav said despite differences he “still enjoys good relations with (Kalyan) Singh” but that their coming together had created a rift within his own party.
“It was because of the damage to the party that later I snapped ties with him,” he said.
Kalyan Singh was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh when a mob razed the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in December 1992.

The Samajwadi Party joined hands with Mr Singh’s Rashtriya Kranti Party ahead of the 2009 Lok Sabha elections but the partnership fell apart after his party’s poor performance.
Mr Singh had formed the party after quitting the BJP in 2002.