Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on Sunday said the only way to resolve the Ayodhya issue was to wait for court's verdict.

"All efforts for a negotiated settlement have failed. Therefore, I am of the firm view that concerned parties should wait for court's verdict for resolution of the issue," Yadav said in interview to Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi.

He said communal parties were raising the issue time and again to gain political mileage.

On Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin, the chief minister said the issue was no longer relevant after the court judgment.

In a lighter vein, he said the issue, however, had been hijacked by the likes of P A Sangma and Sharad Pawar.

On supporting a Congress government at the Centre headed by Gandhi, Yadav said this was a hypothetical question.

"We will decide on supporting a particular government only after the announcement of results of the next Lok Sabha polls," Mulayam said.

On uniting secular forces, Yadav said it was difficult to identify who really believed in secularism.

He said Congress was secular only till Rajiv Gandhi was its leader.

"The people's problems must be resolved if we want to defeat communal forces. Mere sloganeering will not help," he said.

Opposing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the newspaper industry, Yadav said, "If this is allowed, it will affect the very roots of democratic institutions."

"If FDI is allowed in the fourth estate, then foreign participation is also possible in first, second and third estates. What will be left of democracy in the country then?" the chief minister asked.

On tapping of water resources by multinational Cola companies, he said this could have 'disastrous' environmental consequences.

"It will adversely affect agricultural operations and deny masses the drinking water," Yadav said.

Asserting water is not a commodity, he said, "It is an irony that people who cry about Hindutva day in and day out are siding with the argument that water is a commodity."

On moves to privatise water sources and distribution, Yadav said it would not be in public interest.

The chief minister said such a move would hit   agricultural operations and farmers would be left at the mercy of some profit hungry corporations, both domestic and foreign.

"The public at large will also be affected as it will deny them access to rivers, a right enjoyed by the people for thousands of years," he said.

Yadav alleged that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund were dictating Vajpayee government's economic policies.

"Farmers across the country are suffering owing to the faulty agriculture policies pursued by the Centre," he said.

Yadav said there was an urgent need to fight the Centre's 'anti-farmer' policies and all right thinking political parties should come together in this regard.

PTI