Lucknow, March 19: The Samajwadi Janata Party has merged with Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, boosting the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister’s efforts to shore up his support base.

The SJP used to be headed by former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, who died last year.

Welcoming yesterday’s merger, Mulayam urged all former socialists to gather on one platform. He said a meeting would be held in Patna next month to bring together socialists of all shades.

“It is because of ideological differences that Chandra Shekhar had drifted away and formed his own outfit. Now it is time to come and work together,” Mulayam said.

Chandra Shekhar had broken away from the Janata Dal in 1989 to form the SJP.

Analysts said the union would help the Samajwadi Party, which banks on Yadavs for support, to woo the Thakurs of eastern Uttar Pradesh, especially Ballia, which was Chandra Shekhar’s constituency.

After the late Prime Minister’s death, his son Niraj Shekhar had won the Ballia Lok Sabha bypoll on a Samajwadi ticket. He was present at the merger meeting.

The SJP has lost much of its clout but the party organisation is still strong in Ballia and areas of Bihar that border eastern Uttar Pradesh. The merger, sources said, could give Mulayam an edge over arch rival and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayavati in these regions.

The merger, which comes a year ahead of the general elections, is being seen as a platform for building a social coalition in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.A source said the proposed meeting in Patna could see RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Mulayam coming together. They had fallen out in 2000 but recently, Mulayam’s man Friday Amar Singh had met the railway minister, paving the way for a possible thaw, the source said.

Mulayam said Lalu Prasad had recently announced he would lead an agitation by socialists to take up farmers’ problems. “I don’t know if he is serious. The time is ripe for the socialists who were in the JP movement to unite and fulfil the dream of the masses,” he said. “I can assure you that I will honour all workers of the SJP when they join us in our fight against injustice against farmers,” Mulayam said.

Unlike previous rallies, Mulayam’s criticism of the Congress was muted, fuelling speculation of a new equation with the party.