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Vajpayee is the weakest PM ever, says Mulayam

Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav today alleged that Prime Minister A B Vajpayee was the ''weakest prime minister the country has had'', and cautioned the people against the ''hidden agenda'' of the Bharatiya Janata Party which was posing a ''threat'' to the country.

Talking to reporters in Hyderabad, he said ''Vajpayee is the weakest prime minister we have ever had'', apparently referring to the sacking of Buta Singh from the Union Cabinet. The other ministers were, however, not removed, he said, in an apparent reference to Union Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde and Union Urban Development Minister Ram Jethmalani whose removal from the Cabinet had also been demanded by All India Anna DMK chief J Jayalalitha.

He alleged that the BJP had a hidden agenda because of which it was a threat to the nation. It was not a question of supporting the Congress, but it was a question of an ideological fight (between secular and communal forces), he added.

Justifying his party's alliance with the Congress in Maharashtra, he said the conditions there were different as the ''communal'' Shiv Sena-BJP combine was harassing people and jailing them (the minorities) under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (prevention) Act.

Asked whether his party benefited through such an alliance, he said it was not whether the SP benefited or not. But, ''the nation had benefited definitely''.

UNI

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