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Mulayam's meeting with Israeli envoy draws flak

Special Correspondent

JAIPUR: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav has come under attack from the Congress for the meeting he had with the Israeli Ambassador to India, David Danieli, at his official residence in Luknow on Monday. The meeting, between the Ambassador and the Chief Minister, preceded by an interaction between Mr.Danieli and Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Sunday, was kept a secret till the media got to know about it, the Congress leaders point out.

"Mr.Yadav owes an explanation on the agenda of the meeting which was a hush affair," Congress leader Mohan Prakash said in a statement here on Tuesday. "The meeting was planned in advance. Yet there was no prior information about the visit to the public," he said wondering as to what have transpired between the two. "Mr.Yadav should make the topic of their discussion public," he said.

This was not the first time that Mr.Yadav, who swears by secularism, had similar callers, Mr.Prakash pointed out. Sometime back the United States Ambassador to India was a guest at the official residence of the UP Chief Minister. "When there were communal riots in Mau area of Uttar Pradesh a few months back, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief K.S.Sudershan had paid a visit to Mr.Yadav's official residence," Mr.Prakash charged.

"One should look at these visits in the light of RSS mouthpiece Organizer recently suggesting a closer relationship between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party and a possible tie-up between the two."

The secular parties should keep in mind the friends' circle Mr.Yadav had acquired of late while considering his recent appeal for a Third Front, Mr.Prakash observed. "If Mr.Yadav wants to dislodge the Congress led Government at the Centre that means he wants to form a Government with the BJP," he charged.

"Mr.Yadav is talking about a Third Front. A Third Front of which all parties?" Mr.Prakash asked.

The first grouping of the third front -- National Front -- which came to power at the Centre in 1990 was supported by the BJP and it fell when the later withdrew support. The second formation -- the United Front -- that came to power at the Centre in 1996 had capsized when the Congress withdrew its support. "If Mr.Yadav is serious about his Third Front he should spell out the concept -- with whom he will form a Government at the Centre," Mr.Prakash said.

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