'Cong hasn't approached me yet'

Though reports of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav cozing up to the Congress seemed to do the rounds, the man himself remained non-committal on the issue, saying that no one from the Congress has approached him for supporting the Indo-US nuclear deal so far. This is the first time that the SP supremo has gone on record to say anything about the nuclear deal.
He however gave ample indications on softening his stand for the Congress and threw enough hints that the UNPA may not be averse to warming up to Congress on the issue.
When asked if he would review his party's earlier stand on the nuclear issue, Mulayam said the UNPA will take a call on the issue on July 3. ''We will make our position clear on the nuclear deal after UNPA meet scheduled on July 3 in New Delhi'', ''Yadav said when asked repeatedly on Samajwadi Party's stand over the deal," adding that "It will be a combined decision by all the constituents of the UNPA."
However, he was quick to retort, ''Why are you insisting on this question... Maybe the issue (Indo-US nuclear deal) is resolved on June 29 itself at a meeting of UPA coordination committee'', he said.
''Anyway, I have even not seen the document on nuclear deal yet. How can I comment on it'', Yadav added.
When asked about his ''soft stance'' at a function in Delhi on the Emergency imposed during Indira Gandhi regime, Yadav retorted that in Uttar Pradesh more than one lakh cases had been imposed on people, mostly SP workers.
''The situation here is worse then Emergency where only SP workers are targetted and the number of cases lodged are more than that during Emergency. After the Lok Sabha election results the state government will be ousted like the Congress lost power after the Emergency'', Yadav said and asserted that the Samajwadi Party will fight against it tooth and nail.