Mulayam's SP refuses to tie up with Congress

Kochi: The Samajwadi Party on Monday ruled out any alliance with Congress in next Lok Sabha elections, a day after AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh hinted at a tie-up between the two parties.

"We are in UNPA. We are a confederation of many regional parties. We will strictly adhere to the anti-Congress and anti-BJP politics adopted by the UNPA and there was no question of any tie-up with Congress in general elections," SP General Secretary Amar Singh told reporters here in the presence of party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Sending mixed signals, Digvijay Singh, who had on Sunday spoken positively of SP's role in fighting BJP, said his party was not averse to a tie-up with either SP or BSP to stop BJP.

"To strengthen the Congress and stop communal forces, we can tie-up with any secular party, be it SP or BSP. We are not averse to anyone," Singh told PTI in Kanpur on the concluding day of the UPCC regional convention.

Asked whether it could be BSP, he said it could be anyone - the SP or the BSP.

Yadav, who is also the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) Chairman, and Amar Singh noted that the Congress has been not abusive of SP of late.

"If you see the Congress party (convention) in Kanpur, they have criticised the SP also.....no question of being soft on SP. But definitely, unlike the past they have not been abusive.

"Why can't you realize that good sense should prevail. They are not abusing. So, we are also not abusing because in in politics, opposition does not mean enmity. We can be healthy rivals. The fight is not personal,' Singh said.

On alliance with Left parties, which have been talking about a third alternative, Yadav and Singh said SP was having a good relationship with the Left.

"We have been meeting CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat and CPI Secretary A B Bardhan. The ball is in their court. It is for them to take a decision," Amar Singh said.

On April 19, a massive agitation against price rise and farmers plight would be held in Delhi in which Karat and Bardhan would participate, he said.

Admitting that Congress was a major secular force at the national level, Singh said no decision on alliance can be taken in isolation without consulting Left parties.