Likening the telephone tapping of Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh to the Watergate scandal, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav Friday spoke of the possibility of all non-Congress parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party coming together under a common programme and asked the Left parties to lead such an alternative.

"The countdown has started... the people know that the Congress-led government has not been able to achieve anything in the last 18 months. Instead, price rise and conspiracies against non-Congress leaders have marked the rule," Yadav said in an interview to Zee News [Get Quote] in which he is bitter about Sonia Gandhi [Images].

Noting that the Left should act as the "engine of such non-Congress alternative train", he said the strength of the Left parties has increased considerably and "our view is that the time has come for the Left to provide the leadership if they could do so. They have already lost two opportunities", according to a release issued by the channel.

In reply to query, the UP chief minister said even the BJP can join the alternative after shedding its Hindutava, Ayodhya and Article 370 agenda.

Yadav, who is also president of the Samjwadi Party, said the issue today was one of "saving the country". "This is a democracy and the conspiracy is to end it and to marginalise all regional leaders and big leaders. The end result will be dictatorship and which will lead the country to slavery. International forces and developed countries are also party to the conspiracy," he said.

Also read:

Phone tapping: Amar Singh appears before cops

MP, industrialist behind tapping: Amar Singh

Column: Who tapped Amar Singh's phone?