Has Mulayam Singh turned against his one time friend and ally Marxist veteran Jyoti Basu? So does it seem. Why else should he oppose Basu's candidature for prime ministership?

Though a hypothetical question at this stage, Mulayam went public the other day in Bhubaneswar that Basu was not a candidate for the PM's post on behalf of the third front. The SP supremo's statement is bound to create ripples. For, Mulayam Singh was an ardent supporter of Basu for the top job. More so as Basu himself had explicitly said recently that he would not mind taking up PM's job.

For that matter, Mulayam also debunked reports that Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar would back a government led by the Congress minus Sonia Gandhi.

Is Mulayam upto some new game? Grapevine has it that he has some "understanding" with the BJP. He has, of course, vehemently denied that. But politics does make strange bedfellows, after all.

What could be Mulayam's game then? Observers say that nothingbut a BJP-led government suits him most now when his political fortunes are at a downslide. This is because he can retrieve his minority followers (who seem to be deserting him) by flashing the communal card in the subsequent elections. It is said that once a Congress government comes to power, it will consolidate its position among minorities to the detriment of parties like the SP.

As for his opposition to Basu, the history is not far behind. Did'nt Basu favour a Congress-led government recently after the fall of Vajpayee government? Obviously, Mulayam was irked most.

Devsagar Singh