Mulayam points finger at tycoon

LUCKNOW: In a startling move, UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav said on Tuesday that a prominent industrialist of the country was part of the Congress party’s “plot” to topple his government.

“The biggest industrialist of the country is also part of the Congress party’s conspiracy to dislodge my government,” Mulayam said at an impromptu press conference, obviously hinting at Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani. Reporters asked him if this “prominent industrialist” was the one whose brother was also a top businessman, but Mulayam evaded the queries, saying: “You figure that out yourself.”

He said that the Congress had, for long, been plotting to bring down his government and now wanted to impose President’s rule in UP “by hook or by crook”. He said the Congress wanted to delay elections in UP to prevent the electoral college of the state from voting in the Presidential election due in May, so that the Congress could get a candidate of its choice elected as President.

Mulayam praised the CPM for “upholding democracy in the country” by opposing the imposition of President’s Rule in UP. He said his government would prove its majority in the Assembly on February 26.

A crucial meeting of senior leaders and office-bearers of the Samajwadi Party is slated for Wednesday.