The Hindu : Mulayam, Ajit Singh join hands

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 02, 2004

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Mulayam, Ajit Singh join hands

By Javed M Ansari

NEW DELHI, MARCH 1. The ruling Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal led by Ajit Singh announced an electoral tie-up in Uttar Pradesh under which the SP will contest 70 seats and the RLD, the remaining 10.

The SP president and Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, claimed that the two parties would win a majority of the 80 seats. He said the combine would have a major say in the post-poll scenario. "There is no doubt that our combine will play a decisive role after the elections," he added.

Mr. Yadav sought to position the SP-RLD as the mainstay of a secular alternative after the polls, but was non-committal on extending support to a Congress-led secular front. "We will be the main force after the elections. Nobody will be able to ignore us," Mr. Yadav said.

While describing the Congress as a friendly party, he said it could improve its seats if it shed its "illusions and took the right decisions."

Mr. Yadav was critical of the Congress for seeking an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party, which he equated with the Bharatiya Janata Party. "There is no difference between the two parties," he said, while making it clear that his party would have nothing to do with anybody who tied up with the BSP.

Both Mr. Yadav and Mr. Singh described the BSP as a "casteist and a reactionary force." Mr. Yadav accused it of being an "anti-Muslim party which had campaigned for the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi." He expressed dismay at reports of the Congress and the Left parties courting the BSP chief, Mayawati. "I am really amazed how these parties can even think of aligning with such a party," he said.

Mr. Singh said the two parties were committed to the welfare of farmers, minorities and the weaker sections. "This is a people's alliance and not just the coming together of the leaders."

All the 10 seats allotted to the RLD are in the Jat-dominated western Uttar Pradesh, and the tie-up is expected consolidate the Jat and Muslim votes behind the combine in the region.

The seats allotted to the RLD include the Baghpat seat held by Mr. Singh. The other seats are Meerut, Kairana, Ghaziabad, Bulandshehar, Aligarh, Bijnore, Mathura, Amroha and Khurja.

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