Differences prevail in SP over joining UPA

With the “unpredictable” Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress breathing down the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) neck, the Congress may have been cosying up to the Samajwadi Party (SP), which has 22 member of parliaments in the Lok Sabha. However, there appears to be differences within the SP over joining the UPA.

Although the top leadership of the SP reportedly favours a close relationship with the Congress, some senior leaders of the party aren’t too enthusiastic about joining the UPA, rather they showed strong reservations against the idea .

Asked about the possibilities of the SP joining the UPA, Akhilesh Yadav, state’s newly elected chief minister, promptly replied that any decision in this regard would be taken by party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.  “Any decision about the politics at the Centre will be taken by Netaji (Mulayam). He will decide the kind of relations the party will have with the Congress’’, Akhilesh said while speaking to reporters here on Sunday. He, however, pointed out that the SP had supported UPA I also “but hadn’t joined the government.”

Senior SP leader Azam Khan, however, sought to make light of the overtures made to the party by Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh and state Congress president Reeta Bahuguna Joshi. “The SP cannot take such a big decision on the basis of the statements made by Digvijay,” Khan said.