Indian Sonia enough for SP, PM Sonia can wait

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav may beseech with Congress president Sonia Gandhi to let her partymen join his government an...

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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav may beseech with Congress president Sonia Gandhi to let her partymen join his government and even express regret over his remarks against her foreign origin, but he is rigidly non-committal when it comes to accepting Gandhi as the Opposition’s candidate for prime minister in the next general election.

‘‘Where is the election today?’’ he asked defensively, ‘‘Is there an invitation to form the government? Where is the majority… The issue is irrelevant. Our stand is to give issue-based support? We will both jointly decide…’’

Addressing the press in the Capital for the first time after he became UP CM, he was equally evasive about being part of a joint, national, secular front and maintained his party would continue to extend support on issues only.

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‘‘We have always favoured joining hands with like-minded parties. We will give and take issue-based support. We have never talked of forming any front nor have we formed one,’’ he pointed out.

There were no friendly overtures to the Congress when he answered a question of a possible tie-up with the party in the coming state elections. He merely said, ‘‘We have left the matter to our state units to decide.’’ He, however, appealed to the Congress president to reconsider her decision to lend external support to his government.

On the crucial issue of the temple movement in Ayodhya and the pressing of charges against senior BJP leaders LK Advani, M M Joshi and Uma Bharati, Yadav said the Ayodhya issue was dead. ‘‘Advani will be disappointed. People want development not this struggle.’’ He was cryptic when he replied on whether his government would issue a fresh notification on the accused BJP leaders in the Babri case. ‘‘The court has not asked us,’’ he said defensively.

He also sent a reassuring message to Dalits when he said his government would prevent any backlash against the community. ‘‘My government will deal sternly with any perpetrators of violence against Dalits, women and minorities.’’