Laloo Not Averse to Mulayam’s Inclusion in Congress-Led Coalition

Patna: May 15, 2004

A victorious and confident Laloo Prasad Yadav, on Friday in Delhi, said that he had no aversion from the Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav joining the Congress-led Union government at the Center as long as he continues to maintain secularism within the alliance.

Yadav’s comment came soon after the Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet came out of a meeting with leaders of Samajwadi Party and National Congress Party on Friday and said that both parties have shown keen interest in joining the Sonia Gandhi-led coalition at the Center.

The statement came as a big surprise for many of the Laloo Yadav’s own men since Yadav had made abundantly clear that he would not extend a friendly hand towards the Samajwadi leader who was “really just another face of the communal Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).

Speaking to a group of reporters, Yadav said that prior to the election, his goal was to defeat the communal forces, read NDA, and he had succeeded in it.