Congress lying about UP seat: Amar Singh

Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh has accused the Congress of telling ‘‘a blatant lie’’ that the party had not been approached by the SP for support in the election to the lone legislative council seat in Uttar Pradesh.

With the Congress abstaining, the SP candidate was defeated by the Mayawati-BJP coalition. Amar Singh told The Indian Express that he had discussed the UP matter with Congress president Sonia Gandhi at the dinner hosted by Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi last Sunday. ‘‘She asked me to speak to Motilal Vora. I met Vora in the presence of K. Natwar Singh. Vora told me we didn’t have the numbers and even Congress support wouldn’t help.’’

Calling the Congress ‘‘pseudo-secular, self-centred and a party not wedded to secularism,’’ Singh welcomed the CPM politburo condemnation of the party for its stand on UP.