LUCKNOW, Jan 6: Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda yesterday opened up a front against Mulayam Singh Yadav saying that the latter's inclination towards the Congress would be taken up in the core committee meeting of the Front.Talking to newsmen yesterday, the Chairman of Front's core committee made it clear that United Front would prefer to sit in the Opposition than seeking support from the Congress in case it failed to get majority in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.He also pulled up Mulayam Singh Yadav for trying to break up the Janata Dal in Uttar Pradesh and said, "A few of the JD MPs and legislators have joined the Samajwadi Party but the Janata Dal is a party of workers who are with us."He said the Janata Dal alone was not responsible for keeping the Front united but it was a collective responsibility of all the constituents. "We already sacrificed enough to keep the Front cohesive," said the former Prime Minister.Gowda also claimed that the Front would contest 20 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh and hoped that the performance would be better this time as compared to previous elections.On the other hand, the Samajwadi Party has already claimed that it would contest 75 of the total 85 seats in the coming elections, thus an giving indication that differences are bound to crop up in the Front over distribution of seats."Seats may be distributed with mutual consultation but none will be allowed to finish the Janata Dal in Uttar Pradesh," he said giving a veiled threat to Mulayam Singh Yadav who recently inducted a few of the JD legislators and MPs in his party.Janata Dal president Sharad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan, who were also present at the press meet, were unanimous in making it clear that the Front would not seek support from the Congress this time."The Congress had tried to weaken the Front twice by systematically withdrawing support to the Front. We want to keep ourselves united," said the two leaders. Both, Sharad Yadav and Paswan made it clear that they would contest from Bihar.
