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During the general election of 1996, Arjun Singh was plumper, straighter and did not take the aid of a walking stick. This time, when R Swaminathan caught up with the Congress Working Committee member at Mirzapur -- where he was campaigning for the party's candidate Rajeshpati Tripathi in the parliamentary by-election -- Singh was leaner, but slower, with a pronounced stoop marking his gait.

But his memory was sharp as ever and soon the faintest flicker of recognition turned into a full-fledged detailed description of the last encounter. Some excerpts from the current encounter:

What are the chances of the Congress party in the Uttar Pradesh assembly election?

The Congress will make a remarkable showing in the election, and the BJP will be losing power here. In short, this is the position.

Many opinion polls have indicated a hung assembly in Uttar Pradesh. In such a case, who would your party join hands with?

Well. I don't think this is the time to talk about joining hands. At the moment, we are fighting the election to give the Congress party a position of vantage, so that it plays a decisive role in whatever situation emerges. At this point of time, that is all I can say.

Let me rephrase the question. In case of a hung assembly who would your party not join hands with?

The Bharatiya Janata Party, of course. The BJP is our main enemy and that [joining hands with them] is out of question under any circumstances. As for the rest [of the parties], we will see when the situation becomes clear.

Since you have ruled out the BJP, do you consider the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party as potential allies? Do you consider them secular?

No, I am not going to give a certificate on secularism to anyone. What they want to do is their business, and what we want to do will only become relevant after the results are out.

But do you consider them potential allies?

There is no question of potential; moreover, the question of allies and non-allies is not an issue at the moment.

Would the verdict in Uttar Pradesh have a bearing on the future of the Vajpayee government?

I am sure it [the verdict] will affect the Centre. But at the same time we are not interested in toppling the Vajpayee government. We would like this government to play its role out and get further exposed for what they are. We are not interested in toppling it.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has given March 15 as the deadline for beginning the construction of the Ram Temple. Please comment.

Well, this is part of the VHP-BJP combine, RSS included, game of trying to exploit a religious issue for a political purpose. That is the obvious game. As to how well it will serve their purpose, I don't think it will.

But it appears that the BJP and the VHP are at loggerheads on the issue, with the BJP saying that it will abide by the court verdict and the VHP insisting on going ahead with its plans.

Their differing stand does not in any way change the nature of these outfits. If you study all the statements of these outfits carefully, there is no contradiction at all in whatever they are saying. One is playing one tune and the other is playing another tune for obvious reasons. Now, whether you want to call it a strategy or not; there is nothing dissimilar between these organisations.

In case the Congress party does come to power in Uttar Pradesh, or at least becomes one of the major coalition partners in a combined government, who would be the Congress chief ministerial candidate?

On this issue, the Congress party is very clear, whether it is Uttar Pradesh, whether it is Punjab or whether it is any other state, once the party gets a clear majority, the chief minister or the leader is always selected by the Congress president in consultation with the party's members of the legislative assembly.

Photograph: R Swaminathan

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