Relieved SP hails split,says will clear air

A senior party leader said extending unsolicited support to the UPA government in May 2009 was a political compulsion for the SP.

“We were suppressed by the BSP government in

UP,and it was neither possible nor feasible to open yet another front against the Congress,which was coming up in the state,” the leader said.

Ambika Chowdhary,another senior SP leader,said: “The decision will help clear the confusion among party cadres over our ties with the Congress.”

“It is good that this has happened much before the 2012 Assembly elections and it is now clear that besides the BSP,the Congress will also be our rival in the forthcoming elections,” added Chowdhary.

According to him,any further delay would have “further damaged the party”. Since the last Lok Sabha polls,it was being said that the Muslims had deserted the SP and were drifting towards the Congress.

Now,the SP can tell the people that the Congress and the BJP were two

sides of the same coin — both had joined hands to push a Women’s Reservation Bill which denied Muslims,SCs and OBCs a quota in the Parliament and state legislatures.

Party spokesperson Mohan Singh said there should be no doubt about SP’s stand towards the Congress after Mulayam Singh Yadav made the announcement on the floor of the Parliament. “If any other formality is required,the party will look into it,” he said.

According to him,in May 2009,the SP had extended support to UPA to isolate the communal forces.

“Now when the Congress wants to run Parliament with BJP’s support,where is the need of our support?” he said.