Hurt by constant jibes from senior Congress leaders, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday hit back saying that he has enough evidence to 'shock' the Congress and that he has nothing to be afraid of the cases filed against him.
"There are reports in the media quoting Congress sources, that they cannot protect me from allegations of corruption. I have been in jail for 19 months during Emergency and still did not bow before Indira Gandhi. I have enough evidence to prove my innocence, which if made public, could shock Congress," he said, while reading out a three-page statement before the media.
"Therefore," Yadav said, "in order to maintain this friendship between SP and Congress, we should forget CBI, phone tapping, and income tax cases and maintain a harmonious relationship."
He did not give any details and refused to take any questions. He said he would answer all queries after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Yadav's statement comes in the backdrop of war of words between Amar Singh and senior Congress leaders, including Digvijay Singh and Satyavrat Chaturvedi.
The SP chief said he had raised the issue of spectrum allocation in the SP-Congress coordination committee meeting. 'We were accused of promoting the interests of industrial houses. But now all the parties and the entire Opposition are raising the spectrum scam issue. Does this make them middlemen too?'
In fact, Yadav also sought the 'intervention' of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and appealed for 'maintaining harmony' between the two parties to fight divisive forces.
'Today's prominent dailies have come out with a news item quoting Congress sources that Samajwadi Party was having a political alliance with Congress to further vested interests of certain industrial houses and to seek government accommodations in New Delhi for its leaders and bail out from corruption cases,' he said.
Yadav who said he was 'personally hurt' by the reports, stated that Amar Singh had faced the ire of party workers for taking up the task of seeking alliance with Congress.
'We did not join the Union Cabinet despite helping the UPA government sail through the trust vote over the nuclear deal,' the SP chief added.
Denying charges of siding with industrialist Anil Ambani, Yadav said his party had sought gas for Dadri power project in Uttar Pradesh from the government and not from Mukesh Ambani.
'I have nothing to do with either the feud between Anil and Mukesh, or with the pricing of gas. Yes, Digvijay Singh had in fact sought ticket for the wife of Mukesh Ambani's executive, Sandeep Tandon from Unnao,' he added.
Yadav maintained that though Amar Singh has relations with Anil Ambani but the industrialist has no interference in the political stand of the Samajwadi Party.
'If somebody has proof regarding this, then it should be shown to us,' he asked, adding that Anil Ambani was an MP for just two months with the support of his party.
Yadav said senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh has been repeatedly attacking him and Amar Singh. 'We sought tickets for our MLAs in the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, instead he poached four of our MLAs and broke the principle of alliance,' he said.
The former UP chief minister further said Digvijay Singh had called him 'dishonest' and compared him to a senior UPA leader from Bihar.
'Another Congress leader from Madhya Pradesh, Satyavrat Chaturvedi called Amar Singh a 'mental case'. Also senior Congressman Salman Khurshid's wife Louis publicly criticised me in a function where Home Minister P Chidambaram and Amar Singh were present,' he added.
