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Cong. yet to decide on joining Govt.

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI AUG. 29. T he Congress has decided to keep a ``close watch'' on the evolving political situation in Uttar Pradesh before taking the next step.

The Congress Working Committee (CWC), which deliberated the issue at length last night, decided that the party president, Sonia Gandhi, would continue to interact with senior State party leaders who, in turn, were engaged in talks with Mr. Yadav on the future course of action.

With 16 party MLAs in favour of joining the new Government, the CWC refrained from taking a stand. ``There was no decision either on joining or not joining the Government,'' the party spokesman, S. Jaipal Reddy, said at a briefing.

The party indicated that Mr. Yadav was expected to hold discussions with Ms. Gandhi during which Government formation as also his approach towards various issues could be discussed. This meeting would enable the Congress to assess the situation and decide whether to support the Samajwadi Party-led Government from outside or take part in it. For the present, the view was that in the absence of any formal proposal from Mr. Yadav to join the Government, there was no need to consider it now.

Some of the questions that the Congress was seeking answers for include what would be Mr. Yadav's approach to the Babri Masjid demolition case, or the role the Rashtriya Kranti Party president, Kalyan Singh, would play in the new Government. Another area of concern was reports that the SP has a `tacit understanding' with the BJP. This aspect was to be looked into especially in the wake of Congress support to a ``secular alternative''.

On the Ayodhya issue, Mr. Reddy said that Mr. Yadav's views were similar to that of the Congress and that the party was confident he (Mr. Yadav) would not compromise on secular issues.

On the presence of Mr. Kalyan Singh in the new arrangement, Mr. Reddy said: ``We have our reservation about the role he (Mr. Kalyan Singh) played on December 6, 1992 (when demolition took place at Ayodhya)''.

While officially the party maintained that there was no proposal before the CWC to consider arriving at an understanding with the Bahujan Samaj Party, there is a section in the party which feels that the Congress should not foreclose the option of some adjustment in the future in the backdrop of Assembly elections in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, where the BSP has a presence.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist), which has two MLAs in Uttar Pradesh, has extended support to the new Government. The party politburo member, Prakash Karat, told The Hindu that the party would not join it.

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