Lucknow, Dec 9 (IANS): Chances of a rapprochement between Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and his estranged uncle, Shivpal Singh Yadav, who heads the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSPL), now appears bleak.

Shivpal Yadav, while talking to reporters, said, "Time and again I have called upon parties who have faith in socialist ideology to come together on a single platform to fight against the BJP. But it is unfortunate that there has been no response from the SP leadership on the issue."

Shivpal Yadav said that he was now in talks with Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) for a tie-up for the 2022 Assembly polls.

About Akhilesh Yadav's statement that he would not field any candidate against his uncle in the assembly polls, Shivpal said: "Is it a joke?"

He said offering a single seat cannot lead to alliances or any other tie-ups.

Ruling out any possibility of a merger with SP in the present circumstances as a 'one-sided idea', Shivpal said his PSPL would contest the 2022 assembly polls with the help of regional outfits in UP and take out a Rath Yatra to reach out to the people.

From December 24, PSPL will take to Padyatra across villages in Uttar Pradesh to reach out to farmers and the rural populace and generate awareness about the policies of the ruling BJP which have been particularly against the rural populace in general, and farmers, in particular.

Shivpal, who is one of the founding members of the SP along with his elder brother Mulayam Singh Yadav, said his party was in talks with Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM and Om Prakash Rajbhar's Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) to enter into an alliance for the 2022 assembly polls. He said he has discussed electoral tie-up with AIMIM's state president Shauquat Ali at a meeting recently.

Party sources said that the two leaders discussed various aspects of a tie-up between the two parties and the outcome of the meeting was communicated to AIMIM national president Asaduddin Owaisi.