Congress may desert Mulayam govt

The Congress virtually served notice on its ally and partner in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party, and threatened to withdraw support to the state government led by Mulayam Singh Yadav, charging his party with acting as a "B" team of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Smarting at the Samajwadi Party's continued baiting and its unilateral decision to field 63 Lok Sabha candidates in Uttar Pradesh where the Congress and the Samajwadi Party were to have some kind of seat adjustment to prevent the victory of the BJP, party general secretary Kapil Sibal issued a sort of a public warning to the Samajwadi Party, the surest sign that relations between the two groups had soured badly.

"The Samajwadi Party has neither taken any initiative nor any step so far which shows that it is with the secular parties. If it continues in its course, we will have no option but to do what is necessary," Sibal said at the briefing here.

To a specific question whether the Congress would withdraw its support to the Samajwadi Party government, Sibal said, "You all know what we can do. We will take the right step at the right time".

The Congress's unaccountable feeling of betrayal comes a little late to have any political effect. In her meetings with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader and potential Congress ally Mayawati had said the BSP could reach a seat adjustment in Uttar Pradesh with the Congress, only when it was sure of the Congress's credentials""it wanted the Congress to demonstrate that it had nothing to do with the Samajwadi Party.

When the Congress felt this would violate coalition dharma and alienate a future political partner, the Samajwadi Party, Mayawati declared that she was allying with no one.

Now with the declaration that the Congress could withdraw support to the Uttar Pradesh government if it wanted to, Sibal has used a weapon that has little political relevance left any more.

Asked whether the Congress was threatening the Samajwadi Party government, he said, "it is neither a threat nor a blackmail. It is simple talk from the heart."

The Congress had been making efforts to unite all secular parties as this would benefit it as well as other like-minded parties, Sibal alleged that the Samajwadi Party had nothing to strengthen the secular front.

Instead, the party had released its list of candidates, he said adding the Congress felt that perhaps the Samajwadi Party did not want to associate itself with secular parties.

"Despite all this, we have not withdrawn our support to the Yadav government," he said. "If it is really a secular party, we hope it will not go with the BJP. We have a feeling that the Samajwadi Party is not moving along the road of secularism," Sibal said.

To a question on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) convener George Fernandes' statement that the Samajwadi Party would go with the NDA after the polls, he said, "We do not attach importance to his statement. He is a non entity and persona non grata".