Thursday, February 10 2005 15:01 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Amethi: Congress should avoid making any compromises even if it meant staying away from power for some more time if it wants to regain strength in the "politically important" State of Uttar Pradesh, party leader and MP Rahul Gandhi today (Feb 10, 2005) said.

Emphasising that the long-term plan of the party was definitely to come back to power in the politically important State of UP, Gandhi, however, said that for the time being attention should be on strengthening the party organsiation.

"My personal view is that any compromise should be avoided if the Congress has to regain its position in Uttar Pradesh even if it meant staying away from power for some more time," Gandhi, who is currently on a three-day visit to his constituency, told reporters.

To a question whether by compromises, he meant speculative tie-up with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Congress MP said, "I never said that."

Declining to commit himself to the BSP ultimatum to the Centre for dismissing the UP Government, he said, "I do not have anything to say about what others demand."

However, the Congress MP agreed with the BSP views that the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh was in a "very bad shape".

When pressed for his comments on the law and order situation in the State, specially after the murder of a local party leader Shahabuddin Khan recently, Gandhi said, "Certainly the law and order situation in UP was terrible and posed a real problem for the workers who were genuinely working for the uplift of the party organisation."