The Hindu : BJP, allies rousing passions: Mulayam

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Sep 21, 2003

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BJP, allies rousing passions: Mulayam

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI. SEPT. 20. The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, today accused the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of raking up the Ram temple issue every time he became the Chief Minister of the State.

Addressing an election rally in a suburb here, Mr. Yadav said he would let the people handle the problem while he would "look after the development of the State.''

The Chief Minister sought to underscore the point that while the entire State was in the grip of floods the BJP and its affiliates were rousing passions and trying to divide the people on communal lines. "They are not in the least bothered about the devastation caused by the floods, all they are concerned with is rousing passions," said Mr. Yadav.

In his speech, Mr. Yadav gave ample evidence that all was not well between him and the Congress, its support to his fledgling Government notwithstanding. He said he was in favour of a third front to replace both the mainline parties. "I want to strengthen a third front and put an end to the Congress and the BJP's monopoly on power at the Centre,'' he said.

Mr. Yadav used the occasion to project his party as a viable alternative to the two national parties and maintained that there was little to choose between the Congress and the BJP. "The Congress is responsible for much that is wrong in the country," he said.

The Samajwadi Party appears to be making a strong pitch to gain a foothold in New Delhi, and the rally here was meant to mark the launch of the party's election campaign. The ground where he chose to address the first public meeting after he became the Chief Minister was clearly Muslim-dominated, so was the crowd that came to hear him. Mr. Yadav announced the name of a few of his party's candidates for the coming Assembly elections and said the party was hoping to win enough seats so that it could have a say in the formation of the next Government in Delhi. "We must win enough seats so that no Government can be formed without our support," he said.

The response to the Samajwadi Party chief's first election meeting was a mixed one. The party was hoping to use the momentum created by his becoming the Chief Minister to push its chances in the coming elections in New Delhi.

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