Cong may not join Mulayam govt

NEW DELHI: The newly installed Mulayam Singh Yadav-led government in UP has reconciled to the fact that the Congress party will only lend outside support instead of sharing power with it.
The Congress, it is learnt, has not conveyed its final view to Mulayam but there are indications are that the Congress is wary of joining his government. Now that Mulayam is to prove his majority only on September 8, the Congress is not in a rush to announce its decision.The official position, as comunicated to the Samajwadi Party, is that the Congress leaders are still discussing the issue.
The party''s central leadership is under tremendous pressure from its UP legislators to join the government. Having been out of power for over a decade, the state Congress MLAs are arguing that the cadres would get activated if the party joins the government.
In fact, the cabinet expansion in UP has been put off till after September 8 essentially to give the Congress sufficient time to take a final view.
On its part, Mulayam would have liked the Congress to join the government as that would lend greater stability to the new dispensation. "It definitely helps if a party has a stake in the government," said a leader of the ruling UP combine.
However, Mulayam and other allies are not unduly worried if the Congress decides to sit it out. Coalition leaders maintained that having committed its support to the new secular front, the Congress will be obliged to stay the course. Since it cannot opt out of this commitment, the Congress is also keen on keeping the BSP in good humour. "By staying out of the government, the Congress is reassuring the BSP that it is open to an electoral understanding with it in the future," explained a coalition leader.
The SP and its other partners believe the Congress will not be in any hurry to enter into any arrangement with the BSP. But, as a fist step, it will hope to have an understanding with Mayawati in the coming assembly polls in four states. This, it was stated, will ensure that the BSP turns its ire at the BJP while going soft on the Congress.
On the flip side, coalition leaders said, the Congress mood to stay out of the government has helped stem the exodus of legislators from the BSP ranks. Sources said while 13 BSP legislators had openly support the Mulayam government, the SP is still struggling to woo 23 more BSP MLAs required to get around the anti-defection law.
"After the first flush, many BSP legislators are wondering if it is worth crossing over. They believe that in case of a future tie-up with the Congress, the BSP will remain a party in the reckoning," it was stated.