Mulayam to have Rahul for dinner

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">NEW DELHI: If it''s the tit for tat season, the Samajwadi Party is bucking the trend. Amar Singh''s dinner blues at 10 Janpath put aside, Mulayam Singh Yadav has invited the Gandhis to break bread and talk Uttar Pradesh.<br /></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="35.6%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" white=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/827240.cms" alt="/photo/827240.cms" border="0" /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Part acceptance:</span><span style="" font-size:=""> Rahul said yes, while Sonia sent regrets.</span></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" white=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/827237.cms" alt="/photo/827237.cms" border="0" /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Olive branch</span><span style="" font-size:="">: Mulayam’s invite comes even as Amar Singh continues his attack on Congress.</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal">Sonia has sent her regrets, but son Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to attend the all-party dinner meeting of UP MPs on Wednesday evening. <br /><br />Mulayam, about to complete a year as UP chief minister, has invited all Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members from UP, across parties, to the meeting and later dinner, at the new library building in Parliament. <br /><br />The affair promises to be fairly star-studded. Sonia won''t be there, but Lucknow MP and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will. <br /><br />The Samajwadi Party insists the event has nothing to do with dinner diplomacy of the political variety. The UP chief secretary and other officials will be at the meeting where the development of the state is to be discussed. "It has nothing to do with politics. All MPs from Uttar Pradesh have been invited regardless of which party they belong to," a UP official said.<br /><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /><br />Rahul and Mulayam on the same side of a discussion on UP? A meeting of almost 100 politicians and no political talk? Tall order that. Especially when Rahul Gandhi and Mulayam Singh come face to face over the issue that has had them in a slugfest for the major part of this year. <br /><br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal">Rahul, the MP from Amethi, has spared no occasion to lash out at the Samajwadi Party-led government in UP and the manner in which it is governing the state. The Congress has duly fallen in line behind the crown prince, launching an almost daily attack on the SP.<br /><br />On the other side, Mulayam himself has had acerbic words for Rahul and his lieutenant Amar Singh has kept up the litany to match the Congress. <br /><br />The humiliation of three months ago of not being invited to a dinner for leaders from like-minded parties at Sonia Gandhi''s residence is still a sore point for Singh. He had to gate-crash and likes to talk about how he was kept waiting outside. <br /><br />To add insult to injury, the Congress pointedly left out the SP in government formation with allied parties and has repeatedly made clear that it chooses not to have any truck with Mulayam Singh. <br /><br />And as SP’s relations with the Congress hit an all time low, those with the BJP seem to be getting better. BJP leaders are attending Mulayam''s dinner meeting in full force. <br /><br />The invitation to the Gandhis, thus, has raised several eyebrows, especially as the SP is not known for forgiving slights. Remember, this is the party that refused to help Sonia form government all because of a perceived insult to Amar Singh six years ago!</div> </div>