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Shahid K Abbas in New Delhi
Even as the Samajwadi Party staked its claim to form an alternative government in Uttar Pradesh, to dislodge the Bahujan Samaj Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition, the Congress continued to maintain a cautious distance.
Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh Motilal Vora told rediff.com, "The Congress party would take an appropriate step at an appropriate time."
He said that there had been no discussion yet with Congress president Sonia Gandhi on this issue. "We are watching the situation. Besides, first let the government go."
He dismissed Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's claim of having received support from a number of Congress legislators, and said, "He [Yadav] has claimed the support of 37 BJP and 11 independent MLAs. But, it's not correct that his list also includes Congress names."
Earlier, party spokesman Anand Sharma told reporters, "Our position on Uttar Pradesh, unequivocally, remains clear. We are watching the developments in the state and the situation, as per the reports, is fluid."
He, however, added, "It does not warrant any development from our stated position that the Congress party is for the consolidation of secular forces."
This stand of the Congress, coupled with the party's recent successful negotiation of the Jammu and Kashmir stalemate, reinforces the view that the party wants the dissent among the BJP to convert itself into an assembly election, something the BJP wants to avoid.
With its eyes firmly set on the Gujarat state assembly elections scheduled for the next month, the Congress cannot afford to waste the advantage it has gained from J&K, as it hopes a verdict against the BJP in Gujarat would set the trend for the return of the Congress at the Centre.
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