Mulayam may return to power with BJP's help: Paswan

Varanasi, Mar 22 (UNI) Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president Ram Vilas Paswan today said despite strong public resentment, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav may return to power through horse-trading and BJP's help.

''He has done so in the past and may replicate it this time, despite an unprecedent public resentment against the Samajwadi Party. BJP will help him form the government through horse-trading,'' Mr Paswan told mediapersons here.

The Union Minister further said BJP will not be in a position to form its own government in UP and will hence help the SP or BSP come to power.

''There is no question of the Congress supporting any BSP-led government as Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has categorically stated that aligning with BSP in UP was the party's greatest mistake in the past.'' The LJP chief, lamenting the failure to form a grand alliance of Cong-Jan Morcha-LJP and RLD, said, ''it was left to former PM V P Singh to cement the alliance but he could not succeed. The prospects of the potent alliance are still not over, but remote.'' Training the guns at BSP supremo Mayawati, the union minister said, ''the latest social engineering formula of Dalit-Brahmin combination will boomerang on the BSP.'' ''BSP ko na to maya milegi na ram,'' Mr Paswan quoted a famous Hindi saying to expose the false Dalit credentials of Ms Mayawati led BSP.

He claimed barring Ms Mayawati's own caste all other Dalit castes had lost faith in the BSP especially after the party's inclination towards the upper caste, including Brahmins.

''The LJP is the party of all sections, including Dalit and Muslims and does not trade Dalit votes like Ms Mayawati.'' Terming BJP-SP-BSP as the sworn enemies of LJP, Mr Paswan said his party was ready to support any government in UP which does not feature any of these three parties.

UNI