Mulayam Singh

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh on Tuesday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress and a leading industrialist had joined hands to oust his Government.

Talking to reporters, Mr. Singh alleged that the saffron party had commissioned Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to hold talks with United Progressive Alliance Chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the issue. That is why, he said, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, headed by Ms. Gandhi, had lavished praise on Mr. Modi.

Delegation meets Kalam

A Samajwadi Party delegation, led by Ram Gopal Yadav, MP, met President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in New Delhi on Tuesday and handed over a memorandum demanding the recall of Governor T.V. Rajeswar. Mr. Singh said that unlike the Governor, who summoned political leaders to the Raj Bhavan, the President was under no kind of political pressure.

Earlier, Mr. Singh warned the Centre that if his Government was dismissed, he would ensure that the Congress was wiped out from Lucknow to Delhi in the Assembly elections. He urged the Election Commission to announce the Assembly poll schedule at the earliest as the voters' list was complete, and the distribution of photo identity cards was in its final stages.

Addressing the gathering after inaugurating the Rs. 110-crore Lohia Path here, Mr. Singh said that since February 14, efforts were being made to dismiss his Government by using the law and order situation and morality as alibis.

Defending the formation of his Government in 2003, Mr. Singh said the largest single party was called to form the Government. In 1989, Rajiv Gandhi, who was the leader of the largest party, was invited to form the Government at the Centre, and the V.P. Singh Government was formed only after Mr. Gandhi declined the invitation. He denied that the SP indulged in horse-trading.

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