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Mulayam ends poll tie-up with Congress in Maharashtra

Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav today held the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party responsible for "thrusting snap polls on the country".

The Samajwadi Party did not compromise on supporting a Congress-run minority government as "it would have been an unbridled alternative", he told reporters in New Delhi.

"Parties supporting the regime from outside would have had little say in a Congress government," Yadav said, and referred to the demolition of the Babri Masjid during the minority government of P V Narasimha Rao, ignoring an observation that Rao's government was not propped up from outside.

Trying to clarify his position on Congress president Sonia Gandhi's candidature for prime ministership, Yadav said he was not against any individual but "against the designs of foreign forces to ensure a government of their choice".

He mounted a direct attack on Congress Working Committee member Arjun Singh, taking exception to his statement against him [Yadav]. "Ulta chor kotwal to daante (it's like the thief scolding the policeman)," he quipped.

Yadav said the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha (National Democratic Front) would not break because of the opposite stands taken by him and Rashtriya Janata Dal president Laloo Prasad Yadav. He did not rule out the possibility of the two RLM constituents contesting the poll jointly.

On his growing differences with the Left Front in the wake of recent developments, Yadav insisted his ties with them remain unaffected.

He also ruled out an electoral understanding with the Congress in Maharashtra this time.

He said his party had had enough of the Congress, which, he said, took its help in the 1998 election, but worked for its candidates' defeat.

UNI

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