Cong won’t offer any ‘excuse’ for secular split

The Congress today wanted to know if the Prime Minister’s statement yesterday about realignment of political parties after Lok Sabha elections was a ‘‘special SOS call’’.

Party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said: ‘‘We want to ask the Prime Minister if this is his special SOS to seek post-poll alliances. It shows that both the PM and the BJP believe that the NDA is not going to get a majority. In which case, both should clarify to the voters who they are seeking votes for… the NDA, the BJP-led NDA or an unknown combination,’’ he asked.

‘‘In particular, who does the PM have in mind for post-poll alliances, is it the BSP, SP or some other party?’’ Singhvi asked.

On the question of whether the Congress would reconsider giving outside support to Mulayam Singh Yadav in UP, he said: ‘‘The Congress does not want to provide any excuse to anyone to say it led to the division of the secular vote or secular unity.’’ On the timing of any pull-out from the UP government, he said: ‘‘We will not do anything to precipitate the situation. We will decide at the time of our choice.’’