The Congress in Uttar Pradesh on Friday said it rued aligning with Samajwadi Party just to keep the BJP out of power but said it would rectify the "mistake" in the coming Assembly elections.
"Our support to the Samajwadi Party government headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav was a well-intentioned one but we have realised that the ruling party misused the strength it derived from our backing. We will rectify our mistake by ousting the party from power in the assembly elections," UP Congress Committee Vice-President Siraj Mehndi said in Allahabad.
He said the Congress, which had overthrown the BJP at the Centre, wanted to finish it off in the states too as it "has been spreading communal hatred and it did not even have the strength to refuse the demand for release of terrorists to secure the release of people aboard a hijacked plane" in a reference to the Kandahar hijack.
He said the Congress succeeded in removing the BJP but the Mulayam regime proved no better by "misusing power in a blatant manner".
Mehndi also attacked the Samajwadi Party government for neglecting the relatively backward eastern Uttar Pradesh.
{{/usCountry}}Mehndi also attacked the Samajwadi Party government for neglecting the relatively backward eastern Uttar Pradesh.
{{/usCountry}}"We hoped that with a person like Amar Singh who hails from eastern Uttar Pradesh gaining prominence, the region would get some attention. But he kept enjoying his privileges as chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Development Council and remained indifferent to the very place where his roots lie," he said.
He said the Congress would not tolerate the Samajwadi Party's "narrow vision of not looking beyond Etawah and Mainpuri" and would take out a Poorvanchal Vikas Yatra in November.