Lucknow: Ruling out any post-poll alliance with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Samajwadi Party today (April 19, 2004) said it would not join the coalition even if its president Mulayam Singh Yadav was made the Prime Minister.

"The SP will not become part of the NDA even if its president Mulayam Singh Yadav is offered the post of the Prime Minister," Samajwadi Party national general secretary Amar Singh told reporters.

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Political Parties in India

Strongly refuting Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's recent statement that there are no ideological differences between SP and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Singh said, "Vajpayee's statement was likely to create an unnecessary confusion among a particular section (Muslim) of the society."

"There were several issues like Ayodhya, Kashi, Mathura, Article 370 and the Uniform Civil Code on which the views of the SP was diametrically opposite to that of the BJP," he said.

These issues are an important part of the BJP while the SP has always opposed them, he said, adding, "In such a situation there was no possibility of any kind of understanding or alliance with the BJP."