Lucknow, May 5: Shivpal Yadav today announced that he was in the process of forming a "Secular Morcha" with elder brother and Samajwadi patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav as its president.

"This front will be constituted of all secular parties, including the Samajwadi, Trinamul and the Congress," Shivpal told reporters in Etawah after an hour-long meeting with Mulayam at the residence of Ajyant Singh, a close relative of the Yadav family.

Shivpal, who had often spoken about leaving the party and demanded that Mulayam be reinstated as Samajwadi president following their tussle with Akhilesh Yadav, today took a swipe at the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and his confidant Ram Gopal Yadav. "Some people have been weakening the Samajwadi Party. But we will not let this happen. We will restore the honour of Netaji (Mulayam)," Shivpal said.

Asked about Shivpal's statement, Akhilesh said he "did not have any idea about the formation of the Secular Morcha". "But it is a good decision. Our friendship with the Congress will continue."

He did hit back at Shivpal, though, making a veiled attack at his uncle. "We know the enemies within. The snake charmers can bring a snake from anywhere."

State Congress chief Raj Babbar has already said the alliance with the Samajwadi Party was over after the February-March Assembly elections. "We are focusing on the presidential elections due in

July this year. The friends and the foes would be identified soon," state Congress spokesperson Dwijendra Tripathi said.

The Congress's central leadership is trying to forge the broadest possible alliance of Opposition forces against the BJP for the presidential elections and beyond.

In Lucknow today, a senior Congress leader recalled that Mulayam had left the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) in Bihar just before the 2015 Assembly elections. "I don't think Mulayam is serious about any anti-BJP front. Embroiled in an assets case, he is more interested in strengthening his bond with Prime Minister Narendra Modi than building his political future. The CBI probe in the Yadav Singh case is also a big hurdle to the formation of any anti-BJP front with the Samajwadi Party at its centre."

Yadav Singh, a former chief engineer in Noida, was arrested last year for his alleged involvement in a multi-crore-land scam. Many leaders of the Samajwadi family are alleged to be beneficiaries in the illegal deals.

Shivpal had alleged that relatives of Ram Gopal, a Rajya Sabha member and a cousin of Mulayam, were among the gainers. The erstwhile Akhilesh government had opposed the CBI inquiry in the case.

Akhilesh had replaced father Mulayam as Samajwadi national president at a disputed convention in Lucknow on January 1 this year and removed Shivpal as state unit chief. Over the past few weeks, Shivpal has appealed to Akhilesh several times to put Mulayam back as the party's boss and blamed the former chief minister for the poor performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and the recent Assembly elections.

But Ram Gopal had said last month that Shivpal was only a primary party member and should forget about any change of leadership.

Shivpal, an MLA, had said many times that he would form a separate party, on one occasion declaring he would so after the Assembly polls. But his announcement today is seen an indication that he is in no mood to leave.