Lucknow, Nov 15 (IANS) A day after being openly snubbed by Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, rebel Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kalyan Singh said he never had any intention to join the outfit and signalled his desire to return to his parent party by offering his services for strengthening ‘Hindutva’.
Claiming he had been ‘politically exploited’ by the SP leader, Kalyan Singh expressed regret for associating with Mulayam Singh’s intention to weaken the BJP and said he was ready to make amends for it.
‘Neither did I ever accept Mulayam Singh’s offer to join his party, nor will I ever do so for all times to come,’ Kalyan Singh told media persons here.
Sending feelers to the BJP, which he left twice, Kalyan Singh expressed his support for the Ram temple at Ayodhya and said no other party than the BJP could ensure the construction of the temple. He also noted he was still a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS).
‘At the time of associating with me, Mulayam Singh had declared that he was doing it to weaken the BJP. I must express my deep regret for that, but I am ready to make up for it,’ he said.
‘I am all for construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya and would be happy to see it being built in my lifetime,’ he said, adding that no party other than BJP could ensure construction of the temple.
Kalyan Singh stressed he was still a member of the RSS, ‘which has always stood by to uphold the cause of Hindutva, that is essential for ensuring a bright future for the country.’
Even while he denied having had any talks with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Kalyan Singh showered praise on him. ‘There is need to strengthen Hindu forces and I am ready to offer my services for that,’ he said.
Virtually disowning Kalyan Singh, Mulayam Singh Saturday said: ‘Kalyan Singh was never a part of the Samajwadi Party, nor is he one today and let me also tell you that he will never be allowed to join our party.’
Responding to Mulayam Singh’s outburst, Kalyan Singh lamented his 11-month long association with him. ‘I must confess that I failed to see the opportunist in him and fell into his trap, whereby he managed to exploit me to meet his political ends.’
‘Let me tell you all that I never went to meet Mulayam, it was he who, along with Amar Singh, not only came down to my home both in New Delhi as well as in Lucknow but repeatedly urged me to join his party. But I refused to do so,’ he said.
‘Mulayam and Amar Singh’s visit to my son Rajvir’s home in Delhi on Jan 18 was widely covered by the media and likewise was their visit to my Lucknow residence Jan 21 and 22 when they came to escort both me and my son to their party office,’ he said.
‘When I declined their offer to join the party, they requested me to let (my son) Rajvir join them, and they promptly gave him the status of national general secretary,’ he added.
He said the Samajwadi Party leaders also provided him a helicopter to campaign for the party, and at the party convention in Agra, Mulayam Singh himself placed the party’s red cap on his head, and raised slogans of ‘Kalyan Singh zindabad’.
Kalyan Singh, who had campaigned extensively for Mulayam Singh’s party in the last Lok Sabha elections, claimed that had it not been for his active involvement, the Samajwadi party would have never got 23 Lok Sabha seats.
‘He (Mulayam) would not have been able to take his party tally’s beyond 14. At least nine of the seats were very clearly attributable to my personal involvement in the campaign,’ he said, adding even Jayaprada could not have won without his active support. ‘But for me, (SP rebel) Azam Khan would have defeated her badly.’
Labelling Mulayam Singh as a ’shameless opportunist’, Kalyan Singh said he ‘regretted taking so much time to understand Mulayam’s selfish designs’. He praised the Congress for ‘recognising Mulayam’s true colours and distancing themselves from the wily SP leader well in time’.
