Charan Singh on the other hand was actively seeking allies but not limiting himself merely to bigger political parties. He came together in an alliance with the Muslim Majlis party, along with the Samkukyt Swatantra Party. The Jan Sangh under Bajpayee had rejected an alliance with the former party despite its own ambition to claim a broader “Gandhian” heritage, but Charan Singh displayed no such hesitation. In an effort to create a more effective bulwark against Mrs. Gandhi, Singh also assented to a merger of the Swatantra Party and BKD. SSP was effectively diluted in the state by 1974, with the BKD now absorbing its erstwhile following of the Backward Classes in Eastern UP. With their own numbers thus depleting, Raj Narain sought a merger with the BKD. Conditions were now favourable for a singular merger as Singh had long envisioned, and SSP’s merger into the party presented a unique opportunity. The Bharatiya Lok Dal formally came into being in August, 1974 with cobbled with seven parties: Swatantra and Lok Tantrik Dal of the renegade ex-BJP leader, Balraj Madhok, and some minor parties, such as the Pragati party of Orissa. And thus began another chapter in Charan Singh’s foray into national politics, party and alliance building.