Congress plays down Rahul's UP remark

Obviously reacting to pressure from the Samajwadi Party (SP) to rein in its MPs, the Congress on Wednesday denied that Rahul Gandhi, MP from Amethi, had ever made any critical remarks about the functioning of the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led government in Uttar Pradesh.

Gandhi was visiting his Lok Sabha constituency to familiarise himself "with the conditions and problems faced by the people there," party spokesman Anand Sharma said.

He said in none of his speeches yesterday had Gandhi made any "adverse comments" against the Yadav government, which had been "wrongly attributed to him".

Yesterday's clarification indicates that stung by repeated attacks on it, the SP government has decided to take up the issue with the Congress leadership rather than make a public hue and cry over it.

The Left parties, who want to make sure that the SP's isolation does not drive them to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are said to have interceded on Mulayam's behalf with the Congress leadership.

Gandhi's remarks were damaging in the extreme to the SP government for he said law and order had deteriorated in UP and that the "people had it in their hands" to change the situation.

The note struck by Gandhi was that of an adversary, not an ally of the SP, though the Mulayam-led party considers itself a partner in the United Progressive Alliance anti-communal front.