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Sonia's got mail

George Iype in New Delhi

As Congress president Sonia Gandhi began collecting letters of support from various Opposition groups to form a minority government at the Centre, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, by refusing to follow suit, has thrown a spanner in her works.

Sonia's emissaries and Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet spent the whole of Thursday negotiating with Mulayam Yadav, to try and persuade him to agree to the Congress plan or else face a mid-term poll.

But the SP president spurned the offer of any patch-up on the issue, stating that his party would prefer a poll.

As Mulayam held out and the Congress and Communists used all the tactics in their armour to win over the crucial ally, the SP chief cancelled his appointment with President K R Narayanan for the day. However, Congress leaders are still confident that they will succeed by Friday morning to persuade and turn around Mulayam.

But SP general secretary Amar Singh ruled out any rapprochement on the issue. "How can all other Opposition parties expect that we will act against our party's principles?"

"Even before the Vajpayee government was brought down, we had made it very clear that the SP will not support a Congress regime. We are not ready to change our stand at this juncture," Singh told Rediff On The NeT.

He stated that the SP would prefer a general election rather than blindly support a Congress regime headed by Sonia Gandhi.

Hit by dissent from the 20-member strong SP chief, Congress leaders were sceptical that Sonia would succeed in producing a list of 272 members of Parliament to the President on Friday.

But despite Mulayam's resentment to her plan, Sonia begun on Thursday in earnest to collect letters of support from her new-found political partners. During the day, Rashtriya Janata Dal president Laloo Prasad Yadav handed over a letter pledging the support of his 17 MPs.

The Congress president also received letters from a dozen MPs belonging to eight small outfits and Independents. Congress leaders said letters have come from the Kerala Congress-M, United Minorities Front, Buta Singh's Rajasthan Vikas Party, Indian Union Muslim League and the Republican Party of India.

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary J Jayalalitha met the President and handed over a letter to him which stated that she would support a Congress minority government.

While the main Left parties like the CPI-M and the CPI are all set to give the supporting documents to Sonia on Friday morning, their Communist colleagues in the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the Forward Bloc still hold out the threat that they will not support a Congress government.

CPI-M Politburo member Prakash Karat told Rediff On The NeT that his party's decision to install a Congress-led government is to ensure that the BJP does not come back to power. "We also genuinely believe that if a Congress government is not formed immediately, the only option would be fresh elections," Karat said.

"No party is prepared to face elections at this juncture. Therefore, we are hopeful that secular leaders like Mulayam Yadav will come over," the CPI-M leader added.

Other Opposition groups like the Tamil Maanila Congress and the Bahujan Samajwadi Party are waiting for Mulayam Singh to make up his mind before handing over letters of their support to Sonia.

With the Congress unwilling to accept Mulayam's suggestion for either a coalition government or a Third Front-led regime supported by the Congress from outside, most Opposition leaders informed the President on Thursday that it is either a Congress government or a mid-term poll.

Surjeet and West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu, during their meeting with Narayanan, told him that he should invite Sonia Gandhi to head the next government as the Congress is the second biggest party in the Lok Sabha.

While CPI general secretary A B Bardhan told the President that his party was willing to support any non-BJP government, Laloo Yadav committed his party's unconditional support to Sonia.

While the President is expected to arrive at a decision only after he receives the promised list of 272 MPs from Sonia, many believe the Congress's plan to form a minority government will go haywire on Friday if SP, RSP and Forward Bloc continue to hold on to their anti-Congress stand.

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