The Samajwadi Party is inviting other parties to form an alliance with them for the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, The Indian Express reported on Thursday. This comes even as infighting between the party’s leaders continues, with one camp supporting state Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and the other supporting party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s brother Shivpal.

Shivpal Yadav, who is in Delhi to hold talks with leaders of other parties on possible alliances, said that the SP was also inviting “like-minded socialists” to the party’s 25th anniversary celebrations on November 5, an event that Akhilesh is rumoured to skip. “We will not let communal forces succeed in UP and are ready to make any sacrifice for that,” Shivpal said. “We will bring all Lohiawadi, Chaudhary Charan Singhwadi and Gandhiwadi parties together to stop communal forces.”

While Shivpal did not name which parties he was in talks with, he did meet with Janata Dal (United) general secretary KC Tyagi, and called up Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as well as Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh. The report said that SP leaders were also in contact with their Congress counterparts.

Meanwhile, SP leader Amar Singh said that he would “always be with Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son Akhilesh” even though he was not with “CM Akhilesh”, according to ANI. Singh said he was hurt by Akhilesh’s remarks calling him a dalal (broker) and said he had always supported the chief minister even when the rest of the Yadav family opposed him. Singh’s remarks came two days after he said Akhilesh was a “fantastic” chief minister, but not yet a mass leader.

The infighting within the Samajwadi Party began after Shivpal Yadav was appointed the state party chief in September. The move, which was reportedly implemented because of fears of an anti-incumbency vote, did not go down well with Akhilesh Yadav, who then relieved his uncle of major portfolios in the Cabinet. Mulayam Singh Yadav had to intervene to bring the situation under control. The chief minister’s supporters are functioning independently from a separate office in Lucknow.