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SP will contest TN assembly elections

Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, MP, today said his party would not have any truck with the Congress in Uttar Pradesh in the next election and declared that it would contest all the seats.

Amar Singh said he and party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav would tour the villages in Tamil Nadu frequently and build up the party there. His party would also contest the assembly elections in the state, he added.

Addressing a press conference in Madras, he said the real fight in Uttar Pradesh would be between his party and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Congress had declared that the Samajwadi Party was its number one enemy in that state. For his party, the BJP was the key opponent, he said.

Although Amar Singh conceded that the Bahujan Samaj Party had a sizeable vote-bank in Uttar Pradesh, he said he did not take BSP leader Mayawati's statements seriously as she was never consistent in her stand.

He said he did not see any future for the Congress in Uttar Pradesh and predicted that coalition politics was here to stay.

The Samajwadi Party would never forgive the Congress for allowing the demolition of the Babri Masjid and for its failure to bring down the BJP-led government at the Centre, he added.

The Third Front was very relevant whether the Congress made an attempt to form an alternative government at the Centre or not, he said in reply to a question.

Replying to another question, Amar Singh said his party would not invite the All India Anna DMK led by J Jayalalitha to join the secular front as his party was friendly with the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Tamil Maanila Congress in Tamil Nadu. The previous United Front government at the Centre had been willing to lose power for the sake of the DMK, whose expulsion from the UF was sought by the Congress. This being the case, Jayalalitha would have no place in her heart for the Samajwadi Party, he added.

On reports that Muslim detenus in Coimbatore jail were being assaulted, Amar Singh said he would verify the allegation and if necessary, take up the matter with Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.

He also did not agree with the charge made by some parties that the DMK government was soft towards extremists in the state.

Karunanidhi was a mature politician and his secular credentials were beyond question, he added.

On Mulayam Singh Yadav attending the Indian Union Muslim League meeting at Kozhikode recently, Amar Singh said it was the Congress which had labelled the IUML as a secular party. No final decision had been taken on the IUML joining the Third Front, he told a questioner.

UNI

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