The Hindu : No tie-up with Congress if it takes BSP on board: Mulayam

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Monday, Dec 29, 2003

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No tie-up with Congress if it takes BSP on board: Mulayam

By Our Special Correspondent

LUCKNOW Dec. 28. The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, today rejected the proposal for joining hands with the Congress in the coming Lok Sabha elections, if the latter made common cause with the Bahujan Samaj Party.

Talking to presspersons here, Mr. Yadav said the former Uttar Pradesh Government headed by the BSP leader, Mayawati, had made all the arrangements to detain him under POTA. "Various scams that had taken place under the preceding Government proved that the BSP was the most corrupt of all parties. As such it would be unethical for the Samajwadi Party to have any kind of understanding with a party which was prepared to join hands with the BSP."

On the latest announcement of the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, to have an alliance with like-minded parties during the Lok Sabha elections, he said that he had taken upon himself to fight the forces of communalism in the politically most important region of the country and could give or take support of other parties on basic issues.

Mr. Yadav parried all questions about the likely fallout of the growing bonhomie between the Rashtriya Kranti Party leader, Kalyan Singh, and the Bharatiya Janata Party and said his only concern was the development of Uttar Pradesh and had no time to think of anything else. "The present Government had come to power to fulfil the aspirations of the people of Uttar Pradesh. The Rashtriya Kranti Party of Kalyan Singh was a part of the Government headed by him and he had no plan to remove the two RKP Ministers. Kalyan Singh was a senior colleague and would take any decision with a sense of responsibility," the Chief Minister said.

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