After redefining its relationship with Kalyan Singh as a “friendship” rather than an alliance, the Samajwadi Party on Tuesday went one step further to contain the damage over its alliance with the former BJP leader. Kalyan, the party said, “should tender an unconditional apology for the Babri Masjid demolition”.

While party general secretary Amar Singh landed in Deoband — to apparently a cold reception — SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had no better luck at his meeting with over 100 Barelvi Sunni Muslim clerics.

After finding that no prominent Darul Uloom Deoband cleric was willing to entertain him, Amar Singh went to the neighbouring Darul Uloom Waqf madrasa. Addressing students there, he sought Kalyan’s apology and said he would speak to Mulayam over the issue.

He also tried to convince Maulana Ahsan Kazmi, the ustad of the madrasa, that Kalyan had not joined the party and that the SP had tied up with him only to weaken the BJP.

Singh, accompanied by party MP Kazi Rashid Masood and local MLA Imran Masood, arrived in Deoband by a helicopter from Delhi. During his three-hour stay at Deoband, the SP leader also met Maulana Arshad Madni, the president of the Jamait Ulema Hind.

At the over-three-hour meeting of Mulayam with Sunni clerics, barring a few voices of support, the opinion was against “friendship” with Kalyan. Muslims can never forgive Kalyan for his role in the Babri demolition, they said categorically.

They also warned that the relationship would hit the SP in the Lok Sabha elections. “In no way should the SP take assistance of Kalyan Singh or his son Rajveer,” commented a cleric.

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