The recent political happenings at the national level and in UP are not to the liking of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. He was earlier irked over the Congress refusal to make a bid to topple the Vajpayee Government at the Centre. Now he is concerned over signs of Muslims shedding their antipathy towards the Congress and gravitating once again towards it, thereby hacking at his Yadav-Muslim political base in UP.

The BJP-baiter has now called the Congress his 'enemy No.1' and targets it more than the saffron party, much to the bewilderment of the Muslims. Mr. Yadav had clearly misjudged the political calculations of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi. His thinking was that the Congress may help yet another non-Congress combination come to power at the Centre, wherein he would enjoy clout and even emerge as a choice for the Prime Minister's office ..

... Following the stupendous success in the Assembly polls, (the Congress) would allow the BJP government to continue for some time and then look forward to a mid- term poll. The Congress added that in the meanwhile it would concentrate on Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to retrieve its position in those State ...

In fact, the Congress, of late, has targeted both the Samajwadi Party and the BJP in Uttar Pradesh.

The aim is to attract both Muslims and upper caste Hindus. It was Mulayam Singh's strong pro-Muslim stance and sabre-rattling over the Ayodhya issue which drove the upper castes to the BJP fold, as the Congress then was caught between the two extreme postures. But now even those soft towards the BJP feel that the Congress too can echo their sentiments against the pro-Muslim stance of Mulayam Singh

To make things worse for the Samajwadi chief, many from his party have joined the Congress..

To add to the disappointment of Mulayam Singh the VHP and BJP are keeping a low profile now on the Ayodhya issue. Kalyan Singh Government withdrawing the G.O. on Saraswati Vandana and Vande Mataram has robbed him of another emotive issue. (Source: The Hindu, 23 December,1998)