First contact established: Amar, Pranab break the ice

In fact, speaking to The Indian Express earlier today, Amar Singh hinted at a re-alignment when he said that the UPA government should 8220;approach us8221; either 8220;formally or informally.8221; And invoked CPM8217;s veteran Harkishen Singh Surjeet, Prakash Karat8217;s predecessor as general secretary, to justify why the SP should get closer to the Congress. He also underlined BJP Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani8217;s speech in Kanpur last week to argue that the BSP-BJP thaw needed to be countered by a secular consolidation read Congress and SP.

8220;Currently we are not thinking about the future of the current government but we are thinking about the national interest,8221; he said.

8220;Our bonhomie with the Congress was veteran CPM leader Surjeet8217;s dream. In fact, our non-supporting approach towards Congress after the fall of the Vajpayee government left him dismayed despite his personal affection towards Mulayam Singh Yadav and me,8221; Amar Singh said.

He praised Karat for not allowing President8217;s Rule in UP last year but took a swipe at him as well. 8220;We are grateful to CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat for his support to us when Congress party looked determined to dismiss our government just ahead of Assembly elections last year,8221; said Singh. 8220;Had it not been his veto, our government would have ended then and there. But I must point out that the same holds true for the BJP government in UP during I K Gujral8217;s tenure as PM. The Cabinet had even passed a resolution to dismiss the Kalyan Singh government but the President returned the recommendation. The move was subsequently stalled by comrades saying their past experience stopped them from imposing Article 356 on any elected government, even that of the BJP. Incidentally, today8217;s UNPA convener Chandrababu Naidu, who was convener of that government held the same view. Nonetheless, we are grateful to Karat for his kindness.8221;

When asked what was the status of the support extended by the SP to UPA in 2004 now that Mayawati had withdrawn support, he said: 8220;I would like to remind you of the pronouncements recently made by BJP8217;s Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani in Kanpur8230;he publicly indicated that the BSP is the B-team of the BJP8230;the BSP chief had publicly campaigned for Modi. Plainly speaking, everything is categorically clear that BSP-BJP bonhomie is materializing. In this scenario, it is the responsibility of secular forces to keep the communal forces at bay. In this context, do not forget that Kashi, Mathura and Ayodhya are in UP where we are a secular force.8221;

Asked why did SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav avoid any critical reference to the Congress during a function to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Emergency, Amar Singh said: 8220;During the Emergency, Mulayam was harassed and sent to prison but his family was not hounded. Today, even my vehicle, my legal house, and even the 10-year-old house of my ailing mother, who lost her husband, is not being spared in UP. In fact, in my absence, a notice was pasted on the walls there. Mayawati8217;s goons even went to assault her. So, it is like this, while even my enemies sent condolences after the demise of my father, this is a nice way of sending condolences by Mayawati. The point is that as compared to Emergency, Mayawati is a bigger evil. She reminds me of a tyrannical despot, which Indira Gandhi and Emergency were not. It was definitely not good but certainly not tyrannical to widows, ladies and other innocent members of families.8221;

Given the different regional political compulsions of UNPA constituents, will the July 3 meeting bring a united position? When asked, Amar Singh said: 8220;I am pained to see statements by my UNPA colleague TDP8217;s Yerran Naidu where he has announced that we are aligning with Congress. TDP and AGP, both UNPA constituents, have an electoral alliance with the Left in Andhra Pradesh and Assam despite the fact that they the Left are in pact with Congress-led UPA at the Centre. If they are not offended with the Left for their bonhomie with the Congress, why should they unnecessarily be jittery on media analysis of our alignment? Nothing has been decided within my party so far.8221;