Congress set to take on SP on its own turf

What would further irk the SP is the fact that Verma has been allowed by the Congress leadership to address the party’s protest meeting in Lucknow,along with other leaders like Nirmal Khatri and Jitin Prasada. It is the first time since Akhilesh Yadav government came to power about a year back that the Congress would be hitting the ground against the SP regime.

Early this week,the SP had demanded the sacking of Verma for his alleged remarks linking SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav to terrorists and allegedly stating that he takes commission for supporting the UPA at the Centre. Although the SP’s support became crucial for the stability of the government following the DMK’s pullout from the UPA,the Congress leadership refused to yield to the SP’s demand for Verma’s sacking.

Following Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s intervention and Verma’s “regret”,the SP leadership toned down their offensive posturing,although Mulayam maintained after the SP’s Parliamentary Party meeting on Thursday that he was authorised to take “any decision on any issue at an appropriate time”.

Congress’s decision to ignore Mulayam’s threats and target SP regime in Uttar Pradesh hinges on its assessment that he is not prepared to pull down the UPA government at this stage and needs time to deliver on his party’s manifesto promises in UP. Besides,the Congress leadership believes that given the reluctance of most political parties to face the electorate over a year ahead of the schedule,the SP supremo would be “wiser” than Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee who had fancied a chance to topple the UPA government only to end up getting isolated.

UP PCC chief Nirmal Khatri said the decision to hold dharnas and demonstrations against the SP regime had been taken about a week back. “There has been a huge deterioration in the law and order situation in UP. There have been many communal riots and there are daily incidents of heinous crime. That is why we decided this,” he told The Indian Express.

Asked how the Congress’s attack on the SP regime would affect the already strained relationship between the two parties,Khatri said,“Didn’t the SP take stand against the Centre? They opposed FDI in multi-brand retail,on Women’s Reservation Bill,and on SC/ST quota in Promotion Bill. We are not coalition partners anyway.”

With inputs from ENS Lucknow.