By IANS,
New Delhi : Senior Congress MP Satyavrat Chaturvedi said Monday that any pre-poll alliance in Uttar Pradesh with the Samajwadi Party would harm the party, a view that was immediately opposed by the Congress as his “personal opinion”.
“The Congress should contest alone and if it enters into an alliance (with Samajwadi Party) it will definitely lose the votes of the minority and secular minded people,” Chaturvedi said here.
Chaturvedi was speaking in the context of Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Kalyan Singh leaving the party and striking a “friendship” with Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.
“Everyone, specially the minorities and secular minded people, knows that Kalyan Singh was responsible for the Babri Masjid demolition and those memories are still fresh,” Chaturvedi added.
However, the Congress has distanced itself from Chaturvedi’s statement.
“It is his personal opinion and the party does not subscribe to it. He is a senior leader of the party,” said party spokesperson Manish Tiwari.
Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh also refused to comment on Chaturvedi’s statement.
“However, it is a fact that Kalyan Singh was responsible for the demolition of Babri Masjid,” Digvijay Singh said.
Earlier in January, Chaturvedi was removed from the panel of party spokesperson after his remarks on Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh. Chaturvedi had said Amar Singh should go for a “physical and mental check-up”.