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Saturday is the day, says Mulayam

Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav said Tuesday that the 'friendly parties' would decide about an alternative government only on Saturday.

Talking to newspersons in Lucknow, he said the Vajpayee government fell due to the ''collective efforts of like-minded parties''. He said a new government would come into being soon after Parliament passes the Budget.

''As far as my knowledge of constitutional provisions goes, the President will not invite anyone before the passage of the Budget," the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha leader said.

Speaking about the Congress's desire to install Sonia Gandhi as prime minister, the SP leader said, "Any such decision will be taken only after leaders of all like-minded parties have held consultations.''

Regarding All Indian Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalitha's statement that Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Jyoti Basu should be made the prime minister, Yadav said: ''It is to be seen if the CPI-M politburo allows Mr Basu to head the government. Last time too he was tipped to be the prime minister but the politburo had declined.''

Asked if the Opposition was united enough to form a government, the former defence minister said his meetings with Gandhi, Jayalalitha and the Left leaders were ''very positive."

On the BJP's claim that numbers were not in the Opposition's favour, he said that was the ''miscalculation'' that felled the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

We have the support of 273 MPs, he claimed.

Asked about Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalayan Singh's fate, Yadav quipped: ''If the collector is gone, the tahsildar too will have to go.''

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