The BJP today said that Opposition 'Mahagath bandhan' or 'grand alliance' was a "sinking ship" from which Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav was the first one to jump off to save himself and his party.


"It has now been proved that grand alliance is a sinking ship. Yadav was the first one to jump off from it because nobody wants to be on a ship which is going down. It seems that his 'swabhiman' (self-respect) awakened after the Swabhiman Rally of the alliance," BJP national spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said.


Expressing happiness over SP quitting the grand alliance, Hussain pointed out that Yadav must have realised that senior leaders among the constituents, who had worked with socialist leaders like Ram Manohar Lohia and Jaya Prakash Narayan were not ready to hobnob with their bete noire Congress.


"The mammoth rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Bhagalpur was an eye-opener for Yadav. He must have understood that the grand alliance has no chance to win in Bihar and a defeat will adversely affect his party's chances in UP Assembly elections," Hussain added.


The grand alliance, comprising six Janata Parivar parties including JD(U), RJD, SP, was cobbled up at the behest of Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar to throw a challenge to BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in state Assembly polls scheduled in October-November this year. Yadav was unanimously accepted as its President.