Mulayam sees a bigger role for SP

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad's abortive Sankalp Sammelan behind him, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav is coming to Delhi tomorrow to discuss with the Samajwadi Party parliamentary board, how the party could seek a bigger role in national politics.

Ostensibly, the meeting is to discuss the Assembly elections where the Samajwadi Party is contesting on its own in most of the five states.

The Congress had made a somewhat dismissive comment before the election schedule was declared, that the Samajwadi Party did not have enough strength in any of the states for the Congress to do business with it.

To this, Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh had reacted acidly as the Congress did not think the party was important enough, it would contest the polls on its own.

In some areas along the Madhya Pradesh-UP border, the Samajwadi Party might not have a grassroots presence but has a caste following, (Phoolan Devi belonged to this belt on the UP side) and could dent the prospects of a winning candidate, even if it is unable to win itself.

However, the VHP-sponsored bandh has buoyed the Samajwadi Party's belief that it has a role to play beyond Uttar Pradesh.

The CPI(M) was all praise for Mulayam's handling of the Sankalp Sammelan, indicating it supports his line on communalism.

And Mulayam's throwaway remark that communalism was a legacy of the Congress rule, did not elicit any defence of itself from that party, possibly in the interests of Opposition unity.

The BJP also praised the state government's handling of the Ayodhya situation, going to the extent of rejecting the demand of the VHP that the Mulayam government ought to be dismissed and the President's Rule imposed there.