Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav's wrestler past comes inhandy even today. After holding vital posts like Union Defence Minister andUttar Pradesh Chief Minister, today he is a mere Member of Parliament. And,of course, the leader of the third largest opposition party in the LokSabha. Though he is making moves to bounce back into the hurly-burly ofnational politics, Yadav has not forgotten Uttar Pradesh, which will soonwitness a keen contest in the forthcoming panchayat elections. Closer home,Yadav also has the political future of his son Akhilesh, who has made hisdebut to the Parliament, to mull over. Excerpts from an interview withSHARAD GUPTA:What are the possibilities of your party aligning with the Left, withwhom you had severed relations after the A B Vajpayee government fell by onevote last year?Left parties are the only ones besides, of course the Samajwadi Party, thathave never compromised with communal forces. We decided to part ways when Irealised that they were trying to prop up a Congress government withoutconsulting other opposition parties. But I still maintain relations with theCPM's Comrade Harkishan Singh Surjeet. He has promised that his party MLAsin UP will vote for my candidates during the forthcoming biennial electionsto the State Legislative Council. We will try to extend this co-operation tothe national level as well. But before that, Communists will have to stoprooting for the Congress.But will other opposition parties come around? Can you offer analternative to the Vajpayee government?Firstly, all opposition parties will have to bury their apprehensions abouteach other. The Congress, for example, only wants to take everything anddoes not believe in sharing with or giving to friends. If the Congress makesa claim for Prime Ministership, a pre-condition to any kind of understandingor unity among the opposition will remain a mirage. Similarly, BSP will haveto sever all relations with BJP. If BSP had not parted ways with us in 1995,we would have won at least 70 of the 85 parliamentary seats in the 1996 LokSabha polls in UP. But now, with the BSP indirectly sustaining the RamPrakash Gupta government in UP, no understanding is possible.How long will the NDA government last?There are major differences between NDA's partners, but they are stucktogether by the glue of power. It is not a question of ideology but ofself-interest. Chandrababu Naidu was with us till we were in power, butcrossed over to the BJP when power changed hands. The NDA's allies are nowdefending the very issues against which they had been fighting all theirlives. But this cannot go on forever. The edifice is sure to crumble, sooneror later.What do you make of the campaign launched by the four former PrimeMinisters? Will they be able to forge a third force?I have no such illusions. What is the sum of one zero being added to zero,or three zeroes being added to a fourth one?What caused the cross-voting observed during the Rajya Sabha elections inUttar Pradesh?Only BJP and Congress MLAs indulged in cross-voting. Not a single SPlegislator voted for any other party. It happened not only because both theBJP and Congress are saleable commodities, but also because their MLAs weredissatisfied with the party leadership. I know of Congress and BJP MLAs whotook money from three-four Rajya Sabha candidates to cast their vote.You have always opposed dynastic rule, but you're also grooming your sonAkhilesh as your political heir.I was never in favour of Akhilesh entering politics. He is a qualifiedengineer and could have landed a good job anywhere. But I had to allow himto contest the Kannauj Lok Sabha by-poll which I vacated under tremendouspressure from party workers who would not accept any other candidate.Besides, we feared that we would lose the seat as the opposition had gangedup against us.Do you coach him regularly on politics?I don't talk to him about politics. I only oversee his activities and tours.Other party leaders guide him. When I became an MLA, I was almost the sameage as he is now. But I had to struggle to reach this position, somethingAkhilesh won't have to. He only has to sustain the momentum built by me.How soon will the Uttar Pradesh Government conduct panchayatelections?The BJP-led government in UP has lost its credibility and consequently, itsmass base. The entire alliance is likely to lose badly, which is why itfought shy of conducting panchayat elections. Delimitation of constituencieswas already completed on April 17 to suit the ruling combine's requirements.They have changed the character of hundreds of constituencies to nullify ouradvantage. Though the electoral process had been set in motion, the stategovernment appealed in the Supreme Court seeking to postpone the polls forsix months. I hope the Supreme Court will direct the state government toconduct polls within a month or two.Similar allegations were levelled against you when you conductedpanchayat elections in 1995. Even your own alliance partner, the BSP, hadaccused you of rigging the polls?I had conducted the elections under the Supreme Court's directives after theopposition tried to stall them, citing a High Court order. The electionswere free, fair and peaceful. The BSP got agitated only after the resultswere announced, after it managed to win only one out of 58 districtpanchayats against the SP's 34. We can't be blamed for that because we hadapproached the BSP to jointly contest the elections. But they preferred togo it alone and face the consequences.
