SP to mull withdrawal of support to UPA

In fact,Rahul Gandhi’s comments had prompted the SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh,the party’s state president,to ask the Congress to spell out whether it was with them or with the BSP.

Sources in the SP said there were several factors against the withdrawal of support at this stage,the most important being DA case pending in the Supreme Court against Mulayam Singh Yadav,his son Akhilesh and daughter-in-law Dimple Yadav.

Moreover,without clear alternatives,snapping ties with the Congress will only add to the isolation of the SP at both the state and national level.

The SP’s relations with the Leftists are in a deep freeze. Similar is the case with former allies TDP and DMK. The NCP is now allied with the Congress. “It will not be prudent for us to fight simultaneously with the Congress and the BSP,” said a senior SP leader. “With an ascendant Congress in the state and our cadres facing the BSP government’s reign of terror,snapping ties with the UPA government will bring no gains for the party.”

In the 2012 elections,the Congress will be their main rival,not the BSP,he said,and “we must start preparing for it,but the time to withdraw support to the Congress-led government will have to carefully chosen.”

“Withdrawing support is a big decision,but we have to keep all options open,” said Mohan Singh,general secretary of the SP. “The Congress has always ditched those who supported it in its hour of crisis. It is responsible for protecting the corrupt BSP government and the galloping inflation as well,” Mohan Singh said.

The SP executive,therefore,may issue a warning to the Congress to take a clear stand on whether it was with the SP or the BSP. The party may also issue a call for agitation against the UPA government on price rise.

Admitting confusion among the rank and file over ties with the Congress,an SP parliamentarian said: “This confusion will be short-lived. Our leadership is very clear on the future shape of politics.”