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Nothing wrong in Vajpayee's statement, says Mulayam

LUCKNOW, DEC. 22. The Samajwadi Party supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, today said there was ``nothing wrong'' in the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee's recent statement that the SP and the BJP could join hands.

``In the past too, SP had supported the former NDA Government on several national issues like attack on Parliament and Indo-Pak relationship,'' Mr Yadav said. Mr Vajpayee, speaking at the inauguration of a Scientific Convention Centre on Sunday, said his party and the SP could come together in ``the nation's interests''. ``The Congress also joins hands with other parties on national issues like poverty, unemployment and development,'' Mr Yadav added. He derided the controversy over the statement saying, ``No one speaks when the Prime Minister meets Mr Vajpayee, but controversy erupts when such things happen between SP and BJP.''

He also denied any SP leader had criticised Mr Vajpayee's remarks.

Yesterday, the state Urban Development Minister, Mohd Azam Khan, had accused the BJP of ``conspiring to influence the SP's minority vote-bank by issuing `friendly' overtures before the elections''. ``They tried a similar tactic before the Lok Sabha polls and now they intend to influence the minorities before the Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana Assembly polls,'' Mr Khan claimed. UNI

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Nothing wrong in Vajpayee's statement, says Mulayam

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