Samajwadi Party stages walkout, may leave UPA

On paper, the Samajwadi Party (SP) supports the Congress-led UPA government, but that did not stop it from staging a walkout in the Lok Sabha along with main opposition party, BJP, over the inclusion of Balochistan in the Indo-Pak joint statement.

The walkout, during external affairs minister SM Krishna’s speech, is an indication that the partnership between the two may not live long. But this is not the first time that the SP has taken a view contradicting that of the UPA.

“In this budget session, SP has opposed the government on the floor of the House and on July 21, the party along with the BJP staged a walkout over the end-user agreement on the Indo-US nuclear deal,” a senior minister said.

Even SP chief Mulayam Singh has not exactly been shy to draw a political line. He opposed the Women’s Reservation Bill and the move to reduce security cover to him and RJD chief Lalu Prasad. He also defended industrialist Anil Ambani, who had accused the UPA of bias in the RNRL-RIL gas agreement.

“It’s clear that it was only opportunistic politics that brought the Congress and the SP together. Once their purpose is served, they will part ways,” an SP source said.