SP to deliberate on withdrawing support to UPA

With its ties with Congress under strain, the Samajwadi Party will elicit views of partymen on withdrawing support from the United Progressive Alliance and chalk out agitational programme against the Mayawati government at its special national conference beginning in Agra on Tuesday.

Desperate to return to the centrestage of Uttar Pradesh politics, the three-day meet will take stock of the "feeling" among its workers that the party should withdraw support to Congress-led coalition at the centre. "There has been suggestions to withdraw support to the Congress. We will listen to the delegates on the issue," SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav said ahead of the National Executive meeting of the party which will finalise the agenda.

Attacking the Mayawati government for the "plight" of common man, he said an agitation programme could be finalised. The SP is worried over the improved performance of Congress in the Lok Sabha polls which saw its tally go down from 39 to 23 this time. The party fears that the rising graph of Congress could rob it of the opportunity to regain its predominant position in state politics. The SP chief dismissed suggestions that Muslims were feeling alienated from the party, especially after the expulsion of firebrand leader Mohammed Azam Khan and Yadav's closeness with former BJP leader Kalyan Singh, who is a special invitee to the conference.

Attacking the UPA as well as the BSP governments over felling of eight crore trees in the state, Yadav said the Centre could have intervened to stop the "mindless act" leading to an environmental catastrophe. He also lamented the "serious" internal security situation in the country. Asked why SP was attacking both Congress and BSP, he said the party was only taking up the cause of poor farmers, the unemployed and fighting against price rise.