Regretting his 1999 remarks about her foreign origin, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday thanked Congress president Sonia Gandhi for extending support to his government in Uttar Pradesh.
"In 1999 I had done big mistakes. I have suffered a lot and realised that half-truths are dangerous," he told reporters in Delhi on his first visit to the capital after assuming the reins of UP.
Ahead of his meeting with Gandhi, Yadav was full of praise for the Congress chief saying, "Whatever she has done till now is praiseworthy. She made immense sacrifices at a time when UP was burning."
Yadav had played the spoilsport in 1999 in Gandhi's attempt to form an alternate government at the Centre following the fall of the BJP-led coalition by pointing to her foreign origin.
Yadav's meeting with Gandhi also assumes significance in the wake of a sharp divergence of views in the Congress over joining the Samajwadi Party-led coalition.
While the 16-member CLP is pressing for participating in the government, some central leaders are opposed to it. Last week, the Congress has decided against participating in the government 'for the time being' but made it clear that a final decision would be taken after consultations with all concerned, including Yadav.
Earlier, soon after his arrival in Delhi, Yadav presided over a meeting of his SP's parliamentary board, which was attended by senior leaders Janeshwar Mishra, Amar Singh, Ram Gopal Yadav, Azam Khan and others.
Talking to reporters after the hour-long meeting, Yadav indicated that he has no immediate plans to resign his Lok Sabha seat as he has over five months to decide on the matter but said that he would no longer be heading Parliament's Standing Committee on Petroleum.