The grand alliance may turn out to be a success just on the matrimonial front with zero impact on politics. But at least nobody would blame them for not honoring the promise of a new party in the new year.

A few days ago when the Janata Parivar met at Mulayam Singh Yadav’s residence in Delhi, they came out with a new slogan: New Year, New Party. Any doubt over their intention of throwing a grand party was dispelled on Friday when news of a wedding in the homes of Mulayam and Lalu Prasad started circulating. The SP supremo’s grand nephew and Lalu’s daughter are all set to tie the knot after a lavish engagement ceremony in December.

Aware of the history of the acrimonious relations between the two Yadavs, cynics would love to josh that a post-engagement celebration is the only party that should be expected from the SP chief and Lalu. But, this time the two estranged Yadav brothers appear serious about reviving their old party, the Janata Dal from the 90s.

Both have their compulsions, both political and social.

In a state like UP, where inter-caste marriages have the potential to make or mar political equations, Mulayam is handicapped by his past. His two sons married into Thakur families and now Mulayam needs to reassert his Yadav identity by arranging a marriage into his own community. An alliance with Lalu, the most famous Yadav outside UP, takes care of Mulayam’s headache.

Though the prospective groom isn’t his son but a grand-nephew, Mulayam had elevated him to a special status by letting him contest from Mainpuri, his traditional seat, in the recent by-polls.

Also, there has always been some sort of rivalry between Yadavs divided between the two states. The ‘western’ Yadavs, those from UP, have a strained relation with the ‘eastern’ Yadavs. Lalu and Mulayam are now hoping that their grand alliance—both political and matrimonial—will help bridge this divide.

But doubts persist.

When VP Singh had gathered his Janata Parivar in 1989 to take on the Congress, Mulayam and Lalu were among his navratnas. But gradually they moved apart.

While Lalu embraced the Congress over the next few years, Mulayam remained one of the pivots of anti-Congress politics in the politically significant state. The rift between the two Yadavs was played out in the open in 1997, when Mulayam accused Lalu of thwarting his chances of becoming the Prime Minister. Since then both had behaved like rivals and opportunistic satraps eager to cosy up to the Congress.

But the rise of Narendra Modi in both UP and Bihar has forced them to come together and look at innovative ways of cementing the partnership, a desire that is evident in their efforts to become sambdhis.

Will it work? The two Yadavs may be nostalgic about their glorious past, when they had helped VP Singh trounce the Congress but Indian politics has aged and matured faster than the two satraps.

With their egoistic wars, opportunistic about turns, dynastic politics and scam-tainted tenures, the two self-proclaimed Lohiaites have lost the ideological sheen that had given them their identity in politics. Both are now seen as caricatures of the young leaders who had once proclaimed loyalty to the socialist movement. Also, Lalu is politically insignificant in UP. And in Bihar, Mulayam has absolutely no clout over the eastern Yadavs. In the end, the grand alliance may turn out to be a success just on the matrimonial front with zero impact on politics. But at least nobody would blame them for not honoring the promise of a new party in the new year.