Sunday, May 29 2005 10:40 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Allahabad: Accusing the Samajwadi Party (SP) of carrying out a "misinformation campaign" against it to ensure the survival of its Government in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress said, despite its "desperate acts" the current regime would not be able to survive for long.

"The Samajwadi Party has been indulging in all sorts of misinformation campaign, mostly directed at the Congress, but all this will prove to be of no avail as the party is on its way out," Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee President Salman Khurshid told reporters in Allahabad. Khurshid, who was here to campaign for the party candidate in Allahabad West Assembly bypoll, Sanjay Krishna Srivastava, said the Samajwadi Party has been trying to "mislead" the people about the Congress' stand on a number of issues for its own political gains.

"A case in point is the establishment of Urdu University. Mulayam Singh Yadav and his men have been alleging that we are against the move when the reality is we acknowledge the need for more than one institution of that sort, but we do not accept State Minister Azam Khan being made its Chancellor for life," he said.

Khurshid dubbed as "bluff" Khan's announcement of withdrawal of his name for post. "No formal notification in this regard has been brought before the State Assembly."

Khurshid alleged that though the SP claims to be the champion of the minorities, the parties stand on several issues has raised questions about its secular credentials.

"Mulayam Singh Yadav has openly expressed his soft spot for Narendra Modi. In its affidavit on Babri issue, the SP has tacitly helped those responsible for the demolition of the mosque," the senior Congress leader alleged.

"Besides, it is this very party that had helped Sakshi Maharaj get elected to Parliament," Khurshid said.

"All this would, however, prove to be of no help to SP as it has few days left in power and we must make it clear that as of now the Congress is in no way supporting the Government," he said.

He also said that the Samajwadi Party has survived only on the strength it has derived through engineering a defection in the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). "Once the court passes its verdict with regard to defection of the 40 BSP MLAs, the Mulayam Singh Yadav Government will automatically fall," he said.