LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party (SP) softened its stand towards the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) when its national general secretary arid Union Communications Minister Beni Prasad Verma said his party had high respect for BSP supreme Kanshi Ram despite ideological differences. He told a press conference here that both the SP and BSP had fought the 1993 elections together and the just concluded Assembly elections had given a mandate for the secular forces. Referring to Kanshi Ram’s slogan “jiskijitni sankhya bhari, utni uski satta mein bhagidari” (the party with higher number of scats should have a higher share in power), the SP leader said in that event Mulayam Singh Yadav should be unanimous choice for chief minister ship as the party had the maximum number of 110 legislators would have been a futile exercise.

When a reporter sought his views on Mayawati’s candidacy for the chief minister ship, Verma said, “Individuals do not matter”. He expressed confidence that an understanding would be reached among all the secular forces to form a popular government in Uttar Pradesh. Defending Uttar Pradesh Governor Ramesh Bhandari‘s recommendation for re imposing President’s rule in the state, the union minister said, “It would have been another blunder had the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) been invited to form the government.” “Everyone is aware of the BJP’s unsuccessful experiment at the Center after the Lok Sabha elections where the party failed to prove its majority on the floor of the House,” Verma said. An invitation to the BJP to form the government in Uttar Pradesh with 180 legislators would have been a futile exercise.

On the meeting between Union Minister CM Ibrahim and the BSP supreme in New Delhi yesterday, Berma remarked “All I can say is that secular forces will be able to form the government in Uttar Pradesh very soon.” The reimposition of President’s rule in the State is an unfortunate situation and we all want popular government to be installed at the earliest, Verma added. Meanwhile, the stalemate over government formation in Uttar Pradesh continued today even as the BJP stepped up efforts to restrike an alliance with the BSP to come to power in the state. Neither the BSP nor Samajwadi Party was ready to relent on the issue of chief minister ship with the former insisting on Mayawati and the latter on Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Article extracted from this publication >>  October 23, 1996