In goodbye season, Maya first

“At this juncture, my party cannot ignore the fact that the economic policies of the Congress-led UPA Government have not only led to the sky-rocketing price rise, which has adversely affected the common man, but it has also extended step-motherly treatment to my party’s government in the state,” Mayawati said at a press conference here.

She said that the BSP had sent letters to President Pratibha Patil, Chairperson of Rajya Sabha, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi informing about her decision.

In today’s Lok Sabha arithmetic, this move does not pose a threat to the Government, but with the Left and its 59 MPs threatening to pull out any moment, the UPA’s options are now restricted. In the 543-member Lok Sabha, the UPA enjoys the support of 237 members — 35 short of a simple majority, which is buffered with 59 from the Left. The BSP, with its 17 members and its bitter rival Samajwadi Party with 39 MPs were the two major parties that had extended their support to the UPA in 2004.

Mayawati had threatened to withdraw support as early as January this year. “When the Congress-led UPA government came to the power four years back, I had hoped that the Congress party will do justice with me in Taj and Taj-related cases including the case of disproportionate assets case that were framed against me by the earlier BJP-led government to harm my image. Unfortunately, Congress turned out to be two steps ahead of the BJP and has been holding up these cases since last four years for its political interests,” said Mayawati.

She signalled that her party would not blindly support any no-confidence motion against the government despite her announcement of withdrawal of support.

“In case of a no-confidence motion against the government, the party will look into the merits of the issue before taking a decision to support or oppose the motion. My party will consider whether the main issues behind the no-confidence are in the interests of common people, sarvasamaj, and the party before taking a final decision,” she said.

Mayawati’s withdrawal of support comes amid the increasing bonhomie between the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) in state and the ruling Congress at the Centre. Both have sharpened their attack on the Mayawati government in the state. The bonhomie has grown so much that the SP, in fact, has even maintained a silence on the nuclear deal issue and has called the BSP the BJP’s B-team.