Why did the Samajwadi Party refuse to support a Congress-led Government, when almost entire Opposition had already given its undertaking?

How do you expect our party to react when Congress spokesman calls our MPs ``migratory birds ready to return to their nest''? Having seen the minority Government headed by P.V. Narasimha Rao, gaining majority through effecting defections, doubts were bound to be there over intentions of the next minority Government.

Was this the sole reason for your party's aversion to a Congress-led Government?

There were several others as well. The Congress at its Panchmarhi and Hardwar conventions labelled Samajwadi Party acasteist, corrupt and communal force. This was why our party at its Aurangabad and Bhopal conclaves resolved to maintain equi-distance with both the Congress and the BJP. Then Sonia Gandhi herself took our party for granted as she told the media after meeting the President, ``I (a Capital I) have got 272 MPs. Only Mulayam Singh Yadav is not coming around. But very soon he will come around.

He could not make up his mind. Very soon he will make up his mind. But I have 272.'' Congress, after toppling the Vajpayee Government, should have called a meeting of opposition leaders. But it went unilaterally to stake its claim without consulting the Opposition. It ultimately could muster support of only 233 MPs. If 20 our MPs too had supported it, the tally would have reached 253, still 19 short of magic figure of 272. Why are only we being blamed, why not the Janata Dal, RSP, FB and BSP?

Whom do you thus blame for the fiasco?

Only Sonia Gandhi herself and her party spokesman Arjun Singh.

Were youopposed to Sonia Gandhi or the Congress, as a party?

Basically, we were against Congress policies and we opposed Sonia because she heads the party.

Do you feel that Sonia is a foreigner?

I don't want to enter into this controversy.

But your own friends like the CPM general secretary Harikishen Singh Surjeet and RJD chief Laloo Yadav, have been critical of your stand?

My lips are sealed. I have been instructed by my party president not to comment on any of the two though I have a lot to say about them. If I say anything, I will violate party's discipline and might even face disciplinary action.

Wasn't it because of a fear of desertion of Muslim votes and the apprehension of a BSP-Congress tie-up in UP that you refused to support Sonia Gandhi?

We don't consider Muslims as our vote bank. To serve minorities is our motto. We don't claim that by saving Babri Masjid we have done any favour to the community. It was our duty. Ours was a principled and ideological stand which wasnot guided by circumstances. It was during the Narasimha Rao Government that Babri Masjid was demolished. This is why my leader laid down some conditions for supporting the Congress, like an undertaking about Mathura and Kashi shrines, that anti-farmer Dunkel should not be promulgated. On the Women's Reservation Bill and Patents Bill, both the BJP and Congress were in complete harmony. We also wanted a ban on communal organisations. But there was no response from Congress. They were more interested in numbers than issues.

You have had an electoral tie-up with the Congress...

We have had alliance with the Congress in Maharashtra where it won all seats with our support, but none of our candidates could win. One of our candidates lost only by 100 votes. I can't believe that the Congress failed to muster 100 votes for our candidate. After Panchmarhi and Hardwar, we can't have any relation with Congress.

But your Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha partners, Shankarsinh Vaghela and Laloo Yadav are tryingfor an electoral tie-up with the Congress.

I also know that if the deal can't be struck, Vaghelaji will come back to the RLM. We will keep doors open for him. And Lalooji had a tie-up with the Congress during last elections also.

How do you respond to the efforts of people like George Fernandes, Mamata Banerjee and R.K. Hegde to form a fouth front of non-BJP, non-Congress parties?

I hold all of them in great respect. But, unless they severe their ties with the BJP, the Samajwadi Party won't have any relations with them.

With a tie-up with either the Congress or BSP simply out of question, can your party enter into some kind of tacit understanding with the BJP in UP?

This is being propagated by the BJP to discredit us. We can't have anything to do with the BJP until it severs its ties with the RSS, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajranj Dal. They should clearly denounce these organisations before seeking any tie-up with us. And the denouncement should be in real sense. BJP will have tochange its attitude towards Muslims. We are neither in the Sonia-led front nor in the Atalji-led Front.

Why are so much anti-Congress? Who is your main enemy the BJP or Congress?

Of course the BJP. But it was the Congress's inaction last year which paved the way for the BJP's ascent to power. Then it sustained the Vajpayee government by harping on the line that it will fall under its own weight which did not happen. Now the Congress itself will be responsible if Vajpayee returns to power again after elections.