TNN

New Delhi, Feb 5: Faced with unease among Muslims over its partnership with Kalyan Singh, who was chief minister of UP when the Babri Masjid was demolished, Samajwadi Party on Wednesday got him to take moral responsibility for the destruction of the mosque, preach Hindu-Muslim amity and take a public vow to finish his former party, the BJP.

Ironically, Kalyan, the one-time Hindutva mascot, had to come to the rescue of ``Maulana'' Mulayam Singh Yadav, who has encountered unprecedented resistance from his solid constituency among Muslims, for teaming up with the former BJP leader.

However, Kalyan Singh refused to go the full distance, stopping short of regretting the Babri demolition — a condition laid down by many Muslim leaders, including those belonging to SP. "I want to make it clear that I had taken moral responsibility for demolition of Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992 and had resigned from the post of chief ministership," he said in Lucknow.

The former UP chief minister added, "While Muslims have a right to be proud of Islam, Hindus hae equal right to be proud of Hindutva. It is unfortunate that some people are creating fissures among these two faiths."

He described his alliance with Mulayam Singh as meant to ruin the BJP.

Mulayam has come under fire from Muslims and Congress, with a visit to Deoband with confidant Amar Singh on Tuesday encountering angry demands at the Islamic theological seminary at Deoband that Kalyan apologise for Babri demolition.

The alacrity with which Kalyan unfurled the corrective — through a press statement in Lucknow — clearly showed the invisible Samajwadi hand. The former CM exited BJP recently to ally with SP along with son Rajveer Singh.

Observers were quick to read reasons in Kalyan's reluctance to use the `apology' word, saying he may be fearing loss of his already dimming sheen among his core base, nourished as they have been on a diet of `kamandal' discourse.

Samajwadis, however, felt it was as good as regret. "I don't think so (he is shy of apology). Accepting responsibility and resigning as CM says it all," Amar Singh said.

The tension over Kalyan has grown so much that Mulayam reminded Congress on Wednesday that it was in office at the Centre at the time of demolition.

While Congress denied its culpability, it seemed to have softened on Kalyan. AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh said the Narasimha Rao regime's mistake was to believe the then Kalyan government's sworn affidavit in 1992. But he added, "If Kalyan really wants to defeat BJP, he is most welcome to do so in partnership with anyone."

The post-Kalyan events have broken the rare lull in the state, putting UP back in the grip of volatile identity politics. While Kalyan and Mulayam are eager to forge an OBC bloc, in partnership with minorities and Congress, to trump a well-poised BSP, the latter too has stepped up its Muslim mobilisation to tap the community's anger.

Mayawati has lost no time to announce a ticket for Afzal Ansari, once her target after the murder of Krishnanand Rai. His incarcerated brother Mokhtar Ansari may get the nod too.Brother of Jamiat-ulama-e-Hind chief Mahmood Madani has also been embraced.

What took SP by surprise was that Kalyan-Mulayam pact triggered an avalanche of criticism, having passed without much scrutiny in 2002. The SP woes were compounded by a posse of out-of-favour Muslims in its ranks, who seized on the crisis to get back at the leadership. AICC too has found in it a good handle to corner Mulayam in seat-sharing.

How the controversy pans out remains to be seen. The SP is set to use Kalyan's statement to persuade Muslims to stay with it, while an alliance with Congress may help its secular credentials in the long run.

But the controversy Kalyan's crossover has put the focus back on volatile minority politics in UP, which had boiled over in the run up to assembly polls. That it can take turns difficult to anticipate even by veteran practitioners is not unknown.

As CM of UP, Mulayam had used the Centre's stand on nuke deal, Iran and Danish cartoons to ramp up support. It turned out to be a blank shot. The Kalyan episode is the second time that the man widely believed to have a finger on the Muslim pulse has failed to read the mood of the community.