Rashid Alvi calls Mulayam a BJP agent

At a time when the closeness between Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) is increasing after SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's endorsement of Pranab Mukherjee as Presidential candidate, the comments of Congress spokesman Rashid Alvi terming Mulayam Singh Yadav as a "BJP agent" seems to have generated a controversy.

"I don't know if you would like it or not but I have been saying it for the last 10 years that if there is anybody who is the biggest agent of BJP, it is Mulayam Singh Yadav. If anybody dances to the tunes of BJP, it is Mulayam Singh Yadav," Congress spokesperson, Rashid Alvi, said while addressing a public meeting in Moradabad last night.

Meanwhile, the Congress was quick to distance itself from the controversil remarks. AICC General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi quipped, "Party does not approve of this....the Congress has always been in favour of uniting all secular forces."

On Thursday, Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Shahid Siddiqui asked Congress leader Rashid Alvi to apologise for calling SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav a BJP agent.

However after all the controvery, Alvi was quick to downplay his comments saying that the comments were uttered in the local context.

A news agency quoted Rashid Alvi as saying, "It is election time in the state in which parties are making allegations against each other, SP is also making allegations against us. Elections are going on. The remarks were made at a public meeting. There is not much between the lines to be read."

Talking to TSI online, senior SP leader Kamal Farooqi refused to comment saying, "I will not comment on the issue at this stage and our party will respond to this at the appropriate time."

The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) also shied away from commenting on the issue.

Senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar said, "The party would not to comment on the issue as Mulayam is already supporting the Pranab's candidature for Presidentship."