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HVK Archives: Congress gives cutting reply to Mulayam's

Congress gives cutting reply to Mulayam's - The Asian Age

Amita Verma ()
7 August 1996

Title : Congress gives cutting reply to Mulayam's
=FF=FF=FF=FF=FF=FF=FF=FF=FF=FFallegation
Author : Amita Verma
Publication : The Asian Age
Date : August 7, 1996

The Congress launched a vociferous campaign against
defence minister Mulayam Singh Yadav when the AICC
general secretary Mr Devendra Dwiwedi termed him "as a
politician who indulges in the most vulgarised form of
casteist politics" and the UP Congress president, Mr
Jitendra Prasada, demanded Mr Yadav's resignation for
making anti-Congress statements.

At a press conference here on Tuesday, Mr Dwiwedi accused
Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav of seeking to create tensions
between Hindus and Muslims to fulfill his political and
electoral purposes. "In this sense, I can say that Mr
Kalyan Singh and Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav are the two faces
of the same coin because both are pursuing divisive
politics," he said.

Mr Jitendra Prasada, at the same press conference,
referred to an interview given by the defence minister to
an English daily in which he had reportedly termed the
Congress as being as communal as the BJP. He said that
if Mr Yadav wanted to make such statements, he ought to
first step down from office because the government in
which he is a minister was being supported by the
Congress.

Mr Dwiwedi, however, clarified that such "factors" would
not cause a strain on the Congress-United Front
relationship but Mr Prasada made it clear that the UP
Congress would go full blast against Mr Mulayam Singh in
the coming weeks. "The dalits are being intimidated by
the backward classes specially Samajwadi Party supporters
- and we will not take this lying down any more," he
warned. The UPCC has also taken a strong note of the
fact that transfers in the state were being done at the
recommendation of the Samajwadi Party. "We are warning
these people that if they continue to pressure the
governor on this issue, we will be forced to take
action," he said.

Replying to a question, Mr Dwiwedi said that so far the
United Front government had not given cause for complaint
and the budget proposals were actually a victory for the
Congress. He said that it was upto the United Front as
well as the Congress to see that the present relationship
did not come under any strain. Referring to the home
minister Mr Indrajit Gupta's statement that the Congress
had no option but to support the UF government, the
Congress leader remarked, "It is simply stupid and
juvenile to make such statements." Defending the Congress
alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh,
Mr Dwiwedi said that the alliance was not merely an
electoral arithmetic but a step in the direction of
changing social equations in UP.

He said that the battle for social justice had got
entwined with caste-based politics and the Congress would
make all possible efforts to delink the two. Replying to
a question, Mr Dwiwedi felt that if Mr Kanshi Ram was
ready to change his views on certain issues, he should be
encouraged. "For instance, if the BJP changes its

communal orientation, we will not have any major
differences with it. The caste factor cannot be ignored
because even the Congress keeps the caste combinations in
mind while distributing tickets but we are absolutely
against institutionalization of casteism," he said.

Mr Dwiwedi was quick to state that his party's alliance
with the BSP in UP should not be viewed as a step towards
destabilising the United Front government. "The alliance
experiment is still restricted to UP and talks of a
national alliance between the two parties are premature,"
he said.

Denying that Mr Sharad Pawar and Mr Balram Jakhar had
ever sought change in leadership in public, Mr Dwiwedi
said that "the only two leaders who have spoken to the
press on this issue are Mr Rajesh Pilot and Mr K.
Karunakaran and this has been taken note of." The
Congress leader, nevertheless, ruled out any possibility
of disciplinary action against Mr Karunakaran and Mr
Pilot. He said that there was enough scope for airing
differences of opinion on party matters on the party
forum.


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