BJP, SP want power in UP by hook or crook: Cong

New Delhi, Apr 13 (UNI) The Congress today charged the BJP and the Samajwadi Party with having made a pact to stop fighting electoral battles in the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh by the rules of the game but wanting power by hook or by crook.

"They want power by hook or by crook and more by crook than by hook," Congress Spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said briefing media persons here, He said," Whether it is BJP's CD, whether it is BJP's communally provocative advertisemens, or it is the CDs alleged to be used by the SP, they strike at the root of India's basic structure, its secular ethos and its inclusive spirit." Mr Singhvi said parties like the BJP and the SP were a "blot" on India's proud secular democratic heritage. "They have tried to deceive, mislead, provoke, confuse, confound, corrupt and fool the electorate by false propaganda and inflammatory material, all designed to divide,inflame and create internal conflict." "In so doing they show their ignorance of India's syncretic culture, its pluralistic humanism and its humanistic pluralism," he said.

Mr Singhvi hoped the electorate of the state would see through this "cheap gimmickry, this diabolical subversaion of democracy and this obvious disrespect for our secular constitution and for rule of law." "Parties like the BJP and the SP need no major political adversary -they have already converted the sober and balanced voter of UP into a collective political opponent,"he said, adding the second phase of elections propels the Congress to yet another great performance in western UP today." UNI