New Delhi, May 23: The Congress leadership, though confident of Samajwadi Party’s support in Parliament and in the presidential poll, has dismissed the ‘Mulayam-for-Mamata’ logic as the growing axis between the two parties as born out of mutual compulsions ahead of the next general election.

Top Congress leaders told The Telegraph during informal conversations that it was naïve to suspect that the Manmohan Singh government was roping in Mulayam Singh Yadav as part of the survival strategy because the Trinamul Congress could not be trusted for a long-term relationship. Sources revealed that there was no plan to induct the SP into the government and even Mulayam had not shown any inclination so far. They explained that Mulayam stood to gain little by destabilising the Congress-led government in New Delhi as it would directly benefit the BJP.

Mulayam, with Muslims being his core constituency, is not in a position to do business with the BJP either in Uttar Pradesh or at the Centre.

But he is free to indulge with the Congress in the national politics despite the rivalry in UP in the name of stopping the BJP from coming to power.

While the dynamics of local electoral politics supports this position, he also requires assistance from the Centre to deliver good governance in the state. But beyond this immediate political and governmental realities, both the Congress and the SP could need each other after the 2014 general election.

The Congress leaders are convinced that the current hostile political environment is not conducive for its ‘go-alone’ dream and the next government would be formed only on the basis of the strength of the alliances. They are convinced that the BJP too was not in a position to run away with the laurels in 2014 and the crucial factor would be the size of the two coalitions, UPA and the NDA. The best way to expand the coalition for the Congress is to raise the bogey of communalism and hence Sonia Gandhi yesterday talked of the “basic principles” on which the UPA was born.

The Congress understands that AIADMK, JD-U and the BJD would not align with it and hence the best option was to grab the SP which could return with a substantial number of seats from UP. The SP is under no obligation to play the Congress game but Mulayam understands he could be ultimate gainer in case a fractured mandate enhances the possibility of a third front government.

Mulayam cannot become the Prime Minister with the BJP support but there is no harm in heading a Congress supported government. Congress leaders admit that with such a crowd of Prime Ministerial hopefuls in the NDA camp, with Jayalalithaa, Nitish Kumar, Navin Patnaik and Chandrababu Naidu being there along with half a dozen from the BJP, Mulayam can see his chance only in the secular camp. His readiness to maintain a rapport with the Congress stems from these considerations.

Congress leaders say Mamata faces similar dilemmas as Bengal too has an unusually strong Muslim presence and hence she is very much a part of the party’s post-2014 scheme.