Patna : In a setback to Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party-led ‘Third Front’ in Bihar, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Thursday said it was no longer a part of the alliance and would contest the assembly elections on its own.
“The NCP is no more with the Samajwadi Party-led Third Front,” senior NCP leader Tariq Anwar told the media here.
The Sharad Pawar-led NCP’s decision to walk out of the Third Front came a day ahead of the second of the five-phase assembly polls.
“The NCP is not happy over the BJP’s praise by (former Uttar Pradesh chief minister) Mulayam Singh Yadav,” Anwar said.
The NCP joined hands with Samajwadi Party, Janadhikar Party of Pappu Yadav, Samras Samaj Party of former union minister Nagmani, Nationalist Peoples Party of former Speaker P.A. Sangma and Samajwadi Janata Party of former union minister Devendra Prasad Yadav to form the Third Front.
Earlier, the NCP parted ways with the ‘grand alliance’ comprising the Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress due to differences over seat-sharing.