New Delhi, February 2
Two days after Congress President Sonia Gandhi had dinner with her, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati today declared she had not taken a final decision on entering into an alliance with any political party, including the Congress.

Dismissing reports that the understanding with the BSP and the Congress had gone as far as to discuss seat-sharing, Ms Mayawati indicated that she would firm up her position after the Lok Sabha is dissolved and the General Election notified.

As for her dinner meeting with the Congress President, Ms. Mayawati maintained that they only had general discussions on the current political situation and agreed on the need for curbing the growth of communal forces.

While the BSP chief made it clear she was keeping her options open, the Congress chose to underplay her public utterances and remained hopeful of forging an alliance with Ms Mayawati. Her public posturing, Congress leaders maintained, was at direct variance with her positive statements in private.

Ms Mayawati’s Press conference today was seen as a move to clarify that the dialogue had not gone as far as to discuss seat sharing which, it was stated, is correct. Congress sources stated that Ms Gandhi and Ms Mayawati had general discussions over dinner and no specifics figured in their talks.

Officially, party spokesperson S. Jaipal Reddy maintained that the Congress party would continue with its efforts to maximise the unity of secular forces, adding that Ms Gandhi’s meeting with the BSP chief was part of the ongoing process to unify the forces outside the NDA fold.

Unofficially, however, the Congress leaders viewed the BSP’s statements as prepoll “positioning” and an effort to drive a hard bargain. Before proceeding further, she is learnt to have asked the Congress to dissociate itself from the Mulayam Singh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh. The Congress maintains it cannot break its ties with the Samajwadi Party till its alliance with the BSP is finalised.

There is a perception in the Congress that the BJP is making all efforts to stall a BSP-Congress alliance by pressurising her on her CBI cases. Ms Mayawati, on her part, is holding out till the notification of the Lok Sabha poll for any action against her then would be seen as a “political vendetta.”

Ms Mayawati, however, denied she was under pressure from the BJP or that she had laid down any pre-condition that the Congress withdraw support to the SP-led government in UP. Reiterating that no understanding had been reached between the BSP and the Congress, Ms Mayawati said though she favoured the strengthening of secular forces, she believed she could do so by going it alone in the coming Lok Sabha poll.