Kalyan Singh won't get SP ticket, says Amar Singh

The Samajwadi Party on Wednesday said that former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kalyan Singh has neither joined the party nor is he being given party ticket for the forthcoming elections.

"Mulayam Yadav Kalyan Singh ke raste pe nahi, Kalyan Mulayam ke raste pe hai (Mulayam is not following Kalyan's path, Kalyan is following in Mulayam's footsteps)," party General Secretary Amar Singh said, responding to criticism over the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister's association with the SP.

 "Kalyan Singh has not joined the Samajwadi Party. We are also not giving tickets to his associates, even including those who had no connection whatsoever with the mosque demolition," the SP leader said.

On Kalyan's role in demolition of the Babri Masjid, Singh said the demolition was a mistake. "The demolition was the result of the BJP's ideology," he added.

"If Kalyan was wrong at the time, he cannot be right now," Singh said.

Asked if he meant to say that Kalyan was wrong then and even now, the SP leader quipped, "you are saying this, not me".

"He (Kalyan) has come to us after being frustrated with the BJP. He thinks that Mulayam's support is necessary to finish off the BJP," Singh said.