Mulayam ducks ‘foreigner’ issue, says Bofors can wait till polls

Sidestepping questions whether Congress chief Sonia Gandhi should be questioned on the Bofors issue, the Samajwadi Party today said the matt...

Sidestepping questions whether Congress chief Sonia Gandhi should be questioned on the Bofors issue, the Samajwadi Party today said the matter could be raised after the Lok Sabha elections.

‘‘Today everything is centered on elections. The matter could be raised after the constitution of the new Lok Sabha,’’ SP president and UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav said after releasing the party’s manifesto.

Asked about fielding a unanimous candidate against PM Vajpayee in Lucknow, Yadav said nobody has approached him in this regard. ‘‘Nobody approached me (in time). Three days ago, I had a long talk with (Ram) Jethmalani and I told him it was too late as the SP has already declared its candidate Madhu Gupta. The party lost 1999 polls by a small margin,’’ he said. There could be a common candidate against Vajpayee if other political parties withdraw theirs, he added.

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He said the BJP, which was now raising the issue of Sonia’s foreign origin, did not support SP leader Amar Singh’s private member bill in Rajya Sabha. ‘‘When the constitution review committee was constituted, former Speaker P.A. Sangma wanted the matter be part of the committee’s agenda and there be a thorough debate on it. But the issue was deleted leading to Sangma’s resignation,’’ the SP chief said.

On Ayodhya, the CM reiterated his party’s resolve to abide by the court verdict.