Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today declared her willingness to forgive Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, whom she considers an arch enemy, if he offers a public apology for the June 2, 1995, state guesthouse case, in which an attempt was allegedly made on her life at Mulayam Singh's behest.

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Singh and Mayawati were part of a Samajwadi-Bahujan Samaj Party coalition government in the state at the time. But Mayawati had pulled out after serving her allotted two-and-a-half years as chief minister, to form a new government in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, dumping Singh just as he was set to take over as chief minister for the remainder of the assembly's term.

"I can also forgive the Congress if it apologises for the mistakes committed by its leaders against the bahujan samaj in the past and have a rethink of adjusting with the BJP if it expels [Union Agriculture Minister] Rajnath Singh who has been spewing venom against me," the BSP vice-president said.

Reading a hard-hitting letter sent to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, running into 30 pages, she lashed out at Rajnath Singh, saying his role had been that of an opposition leader ever since she had assumed power in the state.

Mayawati cited various occasions when the BJP leadership, including its MPs, had failed to come to the aid of the coalition government in Parliament and had acted in the interests of the opposition parties.

Expressing surprise at Vajpayee's statement in Parliament on August 19 while referring to the excise raids on the factory of Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh's brother, she said, "The responsibility for smooth functioning of the alliance rests with all partners."

PTI