Prasada Snubs Pawar On Ties With Sp

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) president Jitendra Prasada yesterday brushed aside the suggestion of senior party leader, Sharad Pawar, to join hands with the Samajwadi Party (SP) for the formation of a government in the state. Pawar should concentrate more on his home state, Maharashtra, and try help strengthen the party over there, Prasada told reporters here. Moreover, it could be his personal remedy for the UP stalemate, he added. Referring to similar views echoed by SP chief and defence minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, the UPCC president said the former should not indulge in creating confusion on such issues.

We have a perfect understanding with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), he said.

The two parties are contesting the forthcoming byelections in the state in accordance to the alliance, Prasada said.

The UPCC chief said he had spoken to the party president Sitaram Kesari and he had also made it clear that the Congress would have no truck with the SP.

He disagreed to a query on whether there was any difference of opinion among the state Congressmen on the issue on continuing to support the BSP or join hands with SP.

UPCC is of the firm opinion that any understanding with the SP would damage the Congress further, he remarked.

Prasada also denied that the recent meeting between the Congress president Kesari and Mulayam Singh Yadav had anything to do with ending the political stalemate in Uttar Pradesh.