Mulayam eyes benefits from Hardwar move

There is more to The Mulayam Singh government’s recent resolution in the Assembly — re-inclusion of Hardwar and the plains of Uddh...

There is more to The Mulayam Singh government’s recent resolution in the Assembly — re-inclusion of Hardwar and the plains of Uddham Singh Nagar in UP — than meets the eye.

First, this will put the Congress government in Uttaranchal under pressure. Secondly, by letting loose an emotive issue like the bifurcation of a state, it can trigger law and order problems leading to a messy inter-state conflict that may demand Central intervention. Most importantly, the SP now hopes to move the Damocles’ sword hanging on its head over the potential threat of the Congress luring RLD’s Ajit Singh.

The SP is learnt to be rejoicing over rebel BJP MLAs’ open support to Minister and Thakur leader Raja Bhaiyya, and this is enough indication that it is working overtime to ensure the required numbers in the House in the wake of the RLD leaving the coalition. Five of the MLAs were suspended from the BJP yesterday for taking on the party leadership, and these could come in handy in the event of Singh’s exit.

As far as the Hardwar issue is concerned, the SP maintains that it is only sticking to its poll manifesto. In fact, the lone SP MP who won outside UP in the last LS polls was from Hardwar.

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