In a setback to the 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 ongoing 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.
The Sharad Pawar-led NCP's decision to walk out of the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led 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 had joined hands with Samajwadi Party (SP), Janadhikar Party of Pappu Yadav, Samras Samaj Party of former Union minister Nagmani, Nationalist People's Party of former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangama and Samajwadi Janata Party of former Union minister Devendra Prasad Yadav to form the Third Front.
Earlier, the NCP had parted ways with the 'grand alliance' comprising the Janata Dal-United (JDU), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress due to differences over seat sharing.
On Wednesday also, the NCP had announced withdrawal of its unconditional support to the BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra amid the reports of end of alliance between the two parties.
- With IANS inputs
