Amethi: Firing yet another salvo at the Samajwadi Party (SP), Congress MP Rahul Gandhi today (Nov 9, 2004) said it was the Congress and not the SP which had brought about the "Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) downfall" in Uttar Pradesh.

"The Congress has crushed the BJP in the whole of the country including Uttar Pradesh," Rahul told reporters in Amethi, rejecting Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's contention that it was the Samajwadi Party which had sent the saffron party packing in the State.

Rahul, who is on a three day visit to his constituency, also criticised Yadav for fielding his party's candidates against Congress nominees during the recent Assembly elections in some States.

The first time Member of Parliament, however, evaded a direct reply when asked about the allegations and counter- allegations being traded between the two parties despite supporting each other at the Centre and in the State.

Independents won three seats and SP and Congress one each in five of the seven Legislative Council seats in Uttar Pradesh, results for which were announced yesterday.

Launching a scathing criticism on the BJP, Rahul said it wanted to grab power at any cost. "The BJP wants to occupy the seat of power by dividing the society on the basis of religion and caste. It is in fact not working for the country," he said.

"The BJP would not be able to play the temple card now as the people of the country have come to know its real intention," he said adding, "that is why differences have cropped up even in the party (BJP) on the issue."

"I hate fundamentalism and the party which indulges in such politics," he said.

Concurring with his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi's assertion that the State Government was discriminating against Amethi and Rae Bareli, Rahul said that several industrialists had evinced interest in investing there but were wary of the acute power shortage.

"I met several industrialists and almost all of them said that they wanted to set up industries in Amethi but are wary of the shortage of power," he said.

"Uttar Pradesh lagged behind other States in many areas. The whole State is embroiled in the politics of religion and caste," he said.

Describing the new UPCC President Salman Khurshid as "an able man", he said he had no role in the change of guard in UP Congress.