New Delhi: In an indication that the party was ready to go the extra mile to join forces with Samajwadi Party, the Congress today commended SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav for marginalising the BJP in the last Parliamentary elections.

"Although Mulayam Singh Yadav has gone with Jan Sangh, Janata Party and BJP in the past, still he did contribute in marginalising BJP in UP in the last Parliamentary elections," AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh said here.

Singh's refrain was that the Congress was against any truck with communal forces like BJP and Shiv Sena and "if we have the choice to keep communal forces out, we are open to have alliance with any secular party."

Besides, he said casteist forces are "lesser evil" than the communal parties.

His comments came a day after Samajwadi Party ruled out any alliance with Congress in next Lok Sabha elections even as party President Sonia Gandhi launched a scathing attack on BSP leader Mayawati, who is at the helm of affairs in UP.

In comparison to the Congress leaders, Yadav has more often said there was a need for the two parties to come together, Singh added.

He said the Congress was not amenable to forming pre-poll alliances, but was open to aligning with secular parties to keep communal parties out of power.

He cited the examples of West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala where the party fought the elections on its own but formed post-poll alliances.
Source : PTI