SP lukewarm to Janata unity efforts

NEW DELHI, April 12: The Samajwadi Party said yesterday that it was committed to strengthening the United Front, but appeared lukewarm to th...

NEW DELHI, April 12: The Samajwadi Party said yesterday that it was committed to strengthening the United Front, but appeared lukewarm to the idea of reunification of the original "Janata parivar."

Talking to the Press after the party’s national executive meeting, its president Mulayam Singh Yadav said he was not aware of any move to bring the breakaway groups back to the fold.

The idea has reportedly been mooted by former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar. But Yadav dismissed the proposal as a creation of the media. Chandra Shekhar had not mentioned it to him, he said.

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On the same issue, party spokesman Amar Singh said though the Samajwadi Party was for unity among all secular forces, it was upto the Janata Dal to unite its groups. "We have no problem with Laloo Prasad Yadav, Ramakrishna Hegde or Navin Patnaik."

The three-hour meeting also took stock of the party’s performance in the recent elections. Asked whether Laloo Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) will be taken back in the Front, Mulayam said hewas not aware of any such move. He said several suggestions on strengthening secular forces came up during the meeting, and predicted that the Vajpayee Government will fall on its own because of internal differences and contradictions within the coalition.

Mulayam denied reports that the Samajwadi Party had decided to support the candidature of Telugu Desam’s Renuka Chaudhury for elections to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh.

Amar Singh criticised the pro-BJP stand adopted by Telugu Desam leader Chandrababu Naidu and Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference. He called Naidu’s decision to support the Vajpayee Government on the floor of Lok Sabha as "the greatest defection of the century."

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Meanwhile, another constituent of the United Front – the CPI(M) – also began a two-day Politburo meeting here today to discuss ways of strengthening the United Front. The party’s relations with the Congress, on which there are differences among its leaders, are also expected to come up for discussion.

ThePolitburo also discussed the stand of the National Conference and the Telugu Desam Party towards the BJP-led Government. The party has snapped ties with TDP in Andhra Pradesh after a 15-year alliance. The meeting will also prepare ground for the party’s central committee meeting to be held on April 17 and 19.

The Politburo is also expected to deliberate upon the next party congress, held every year to elect the general secretary and members to different party committees. It was scheduled to take place earlier in Calcutta, but was put off due to general elections.