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Fixed tenure for LS is 'first step towards dictatorship'

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Member of Parliament, today declared that his party would oppose any move in Parliament and outside to fix the tenure of the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for five years.

"We know this is the conspiracy of the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party to prevent the third force from coming back to power in the near future. My party will oppose the bill tooth and nail as and when it is brought in Parliament and we will ensure that the bill gets defeated. This is the first step towards a dictatorship," he said.

Speaking to reporters at the Press Club of India this afternoon, Yadav said some elements in the print and visual media had joined hands with the BJP and the Congress to malign the Samajwadi Party, him in particular. "This was why stories were being planted time and again in the media that the SP would not get more than one seat in the Lok Sabha election. It was projected that the Muslims had left Mulayam Singh high and dry and were returning to the Congress. But the results exposed all those who were conspiring against us. With 26 seats, the SP is back as a major force in national politics," he asserted.

Yadav denied that his party had put up a poor show in the assembly segments. "If you have carefully followed developments after the election results were declared, you would have noticed that the SP was leading in 129 assembly constituencies as against 124 by the BJP. We are a major force in Uttar Pradesh politics and in the coming assembly election we would return to power in the state," he predicted.

Netaji (as he is affectionately known in media circles) launched an all-out attack on the BJP and the Congress. He blamed Congress president Sonia Gandhi for foisting an election on the country by refusing to form a coalition government at the Centre after the one-vote defeat of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

"On April 21 a meeting of top leaders of various political parties was held at my residence to elect a leader of the third front who could take over as prime minister. Three former PMs -- Chandrashekharji, Gujral and Deve Gowda -- were present, besides other top leaders of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, the Communist Party of India, the SP and other parties. I had proposed the name of Jyoti Basu for the post of prime minister and everyone else had accepted it. But the Congress did not. Then we agreed to form a coalition government at the Centre. Though I was opposed to the concept, I agreed to it with a heavy heart. This was rejected as well by Sonia Gandhi,'' he revealed.

"Then I decided to go on the offensive. I decided that come what may, we would not let a foreigner become the prime minister of India. There is no change in my position even today," he declared.

According to Yadav, if anyone is to be blamed for the BJP's return to power it is Sonia Gandhi. He saw a sinister design between the moves of the National Democratic Alliance and the Congress party. "You must have noticed a comment made by Advani that in future there would be only two parties. The BJP and the Congress party. All other parties would become defunct. But let me predict that in the next elections the Congress would be reduced to a shambles and the regional parties would re-emerge once more and form a third force which would rule the country. Some parties have been trying to create a divide between the SP and the CPI and the CPM. But they will not succeed," Mulayam Singh explained.

He lashed out at those who have been "spreading canards" about his relationship with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh. "I don't know what kind of relationship you are talking about," he retorted when a reporter asked him about it. "Those who say there is some understanding between me and Kalyan Singh are giving me political abuse. There is no question of joining hands with Kalyan. As far as who will be the next chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, it is an internal matter of the BJP. Let them decide," he said.

Asked why he had admitted Sakshi Maharaj, erstwhile lieutenant of Kalyan Singh, in his party when he is one of the prime accused in the demolition of the Babri Masjid, Yadav said: "He [Sakshi Maharaj] has told me that he was in no way involved in the demolition and I have reason to believe him. He had some documents to prove his innocence which were unfortunately burnt in a fire. Sakshi also helped our campaign in the Lok Sabha election and swung a considerable number of votes in our favour."

He blamed the NDA government for allowing Pakistan to fight on Indian soil in Kargil. "If the United Front government had been in power, I can assure you that this battle would have been fought on Pakistani soil. We would have told the Indian Army that they have a free hand and they should go all out to defend our borders," the former defence minister said. He ridiculed Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for not taking the hint when the Pakistani generals refused to shake hands with him during his much-touted trip to Lahore early this year.

Answering a question as to how long the present NDA government will last, Mulayam said that for the first six months they [the opposition] would not say a word about it. But later on they would not leave one opportunity to bring down the government. "Sooner or later a Jayalalitha is bound to emerge and bring down this government," said an optimistic Mulayam.

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