Anything for north Indians, but won’t pull the plug: SP

“In the interest of people from north India, we can go to any extent if such a situation develops. But even now there is time. We still have some hopes from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi,” SP general secretary Amar Singh said in response to a question whether the SP was considering resigning from Lok Sabha on this issue. Amar was speaking to reporters after a meeting of the SP parliamentary board.

“I am not here to celebrate the helplessness of the Prime Minister on this issue during the Cabinet, at least in public,” said Amar. “I will urge him (Prime Minister) to take decisive steps on this issue and convene an all-party meeting. Maharashtra Chief Minister does not appear concerned about this issue, more so after the Prime Minister’s personal intervention. Even the Central Government’s action so far has not been satisfactory.”

Terming him “mentally unstable”, Singh criticised MNS chief Raj Thackeray for his reckless stand against north Indians in Maharashtra. “Given the situation in Maharashtra, I am not going to Mumbai for Chhath Puja as it may add fuel to the already sensitive situation there. I will also suggest the same to Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan,” he said.

Meanwhile, the SP’s parliamentary board decided to go it alone in the forthcoming Assembly elections. A list of 111 candidates for Madhya Pradesh, 23 for Rajasthan, and 28 for Jammu and Kashmir was also announced.

“Our party will try to contest the maximum number of seats in MP, but we are not going to have any alliance with major political parties. There is definitely no pact with the Congress in MP,” said Singh.

Names of the candidates for Chhattisgarh and Delhi Assembly elections were yet to be finalised.