Focus now shifts to government formation

lucknow: after the much-hyped shila daan programme of the vhp ending in a whimper, uttar pradesh is getting ready for another show,it’s government formation. and all the major players are once again busy in search of new allies. if mayawati has called party’s legislature meeting in new delhi, samajwadi party chief mulayam singh yadav is staying put in lucknow holding meetings with his legislators in the party office.confident-looking sp legislators vouch that mulayam has sufficient numbers with him. "we do not have to make extra efforts. legislators are in touch with us. we are still hopeful that governor will invite us. if he does not, then we will cobble enough numbers through defection," said a senior sp legislator from eastern up. mayawati, who had resigned from lok sabha, is in new delhi renewing her links with the saffron party. it is significant that majority of bjp leaders are also willing to form a government in alliance with bsp. the political grapevine is ripe prime minister vajpayee and union home minister lal krishna advani have approved the alliance. the only discordant voice is that of former chief minister rajnath singh. "to the best of my knowledge no such talks had taken place," rajnath told times news network and added: "if anyhow it materialises, it would be a suicidal step for the bjp." mayawati is not impressed with rajnath’s statement. at a recent meeting of party workers she had announce that she would form the next government. "mayawati would be the chief minister of state by the end of this month," her confidante told the times news network. some even predicated march 23 could be that d- day. "i am not sure about the date. but, yes, behanji is going to form government," said mayawati’s confidante. if bsp hopes another innings in power piggyriding on bjp, the sp is pinning its hopes on highers caste and muslims bsp legislators. one of the bsp legislators, who was even minister in rajnath singh’s cabinet, is in touch with mulayam singh yadav. he claimed a muslim legislator, who was thrown out of the party by mayawati for his criminal past, has been entrusted with the job to wean away muslim mlas from bsp. "we need just 33 legislators to break bsp and to circumvent anti-defection law. we have that number," said the sp leader.