For the past two years, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mulayam Singh Yadav avoided the company of Congress President Sonia Gandhi. That changed last week when Mulayam drove to CPI (M) leader Somnath Chatterjee's 21 Ashoka Road residence to sup with his political foe. The ostensible purpose of the get-together was to discuss floor coordination among opposition parties. But the backdrop was unmistakably the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. The Marxists were keen to broker a deal between the two.

Shortly after Sonia's arrival, CPI(M) General Secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet informed her that Mulayam wished to speak to her. He even arranged for a tete-e-tete between them where the SP leader did all the talking. Sonia, as usual, gave nothing away. Nevertheless, the duo struck a cordial pose, burying an acrimonious past, though no one knows to what end. Will the two parties enter into an electoral pact? Or were the two leaders merely preparing for a post-poll deal? What does Sonia get in the bargain?

Despite Mulayam's blunt assertion the next day that "any talk of Congress-SP tie-up before the elections is meaningless since the Congress is only a marginal player in the state", speculation persists. In April 1999, Mulayam held Sonia's Italian descent against her and refused to back her claim to form a government, forcing a mid-term election. Thereafter he steadfastly refused to recognise her as the leader of the Opposition: he did not attend meetings convened by her and communicated with the Congress only via the Marxists. He even forced the Left to boycott a tea party hosted by Sonia during the monsoon session of Parliament.

PAST ENEMIES: Sonia and Mulayam at the dinner hosted by Chatterjee

What happened between July and now that has made the Yadav leader thaw? According to Congress circles, the September 11 events, the ban on SIMI and the war in Afghanistan have polarised Uttar Pradesh voters along communal lines. With poll-eve dissensions brewing within the SP, Rajnath Singh effecting a BJP fightback and a multi-cornered contest on hand, Mulayam fears the elections could well be a close call. That's why he decided to prepare for a post-poll scenario. The Congress could support him just as it helped him survive in office for seven months in 1990. Uttar Pradesh Congress leaders believe a Mumbai-based industrial house played a role in facilitating the Mulayam-Sonia dialogue.

The dialogue, of course, did not happen suddenly. The SP has been working at it for some time now. In the past few months, Mulayam had stopped attacking the Congress. "Mulayam doesn't want to annoy the Muslims, who have no patience for Congress-bashing. They will vote only for those who will fight the BJP," points out former UPCC president Salman Khursheed. He, however, rules out an alliance with the regional party. "SP has nothing to give us. We have nothing to take. Our vote share will go down if we share seats." To drive home this point both he and AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad attacked the SP a day after the dinner diplomacy.

SP General Secretary Amar Singh, like Mulayam, also rules out a poll pact with the Congress. "We are not attacking the Congress because it is non-existent in Uttar Pradesh. We just want to save our energy," he says. Singh feels too much should not be read into Mulayam's meeting with Sonia. "Rivalry doesn't mean enmity. I'm not her friend but I don't want to be her enemy either. She has been personally warm to me."

Singh, who initiated contacts with Sonia after Madhavrao Scindia's death in September, has already made a placatory gesture. He didn't move his private member's bill in the Rajya Sabha to prohibit those of foreign origin from holding high office. "I don't see the need for the bill. The Supreme Court has settled Sonia's citizenship. The BJP is threatening to bring a privilege motion against me. I don't care."

The BJP is certainly worried at a possible Sonia-Mulayam entente on Uttar Pradesh. But even in the Congress, the dialogue has evoked a mixed response. Most Congressmen expect a Patna-like situation in Lucknow. "There will be some Congress ministers at last," says a state leader sarcastically. Those like Khursheed, however, feel that "to win the elections, you can't make the devil your friend. Such politics will hurt the Congress". This, however, is a minority view in a party that has been in the wilderness in Uttar Pradesh for a decade and is desperate to piggyback its way into reckoning.