The Congress party’s efforts to rope in the Samajwadi Party to bolster its numbers in the Lok Sabha in case of a showdown with the Left over the nuclear deal has gathered momentum.
The govt. needs SP on board if the Left withdraws support over the nuclear deal
NEW DELHI: The Congress party’s efforts to rope in the Samajwadi Party to bolster its numbers in the Lok Sabha in case of a showdown with the Left over the nuclear deal has gathered momentum following a secret meeting between Sonia Gandhi and Mulayam Singh Yadav.
According to a highly placed SP source, the two met around three weeks ago at the New Delhi residence of a well-wisher who does not want to be identified. It was a cloak-and-dagger affair with both leaders leaving their securitymen behind to avoid being spotted.
There are also reports that they met again on Thursday afternoon. There is no direct confirmation of this meeting but both of them went missing from their residences around the same time which has fueled speculation that an understanding has been hammered out.
While the SP’s 39 MPs do not make up for the loss of the Left’s 62 MPs in case the Marxists pull out because of the nuclear deal, Congress number crunchers are confident of making up the gap with three MPs of
Deve Gowda’s JD(S), three MPs of Ajit Singh’s RLD and some singletons from other small parties.
Together with the new would-be supporters, the UPA expects to touch 273, giving the Manmohan Singh government a slender majority of one. This rag-tag solution to resolve the nuclear impasse is one of the options being being considered by the Congress.
It may be difficult to keep the government afloat for an extended period of time with this kind of fractured support, but it will tide the UPA over in a confidence vote, if matters come to a head with the Left during the monsoon session. Then, as a majority government, it can proceed to operationalise the nuclear deal.
The Congress is looking at other game plans for the nuclear deal. However, an understanding with the SP has a spin-off for the Lok Sabha polls and after. Both parties are hoping to take on the Mayawati juggernaut in UP with a pre-poll alliance or seat adjustment.
For the record, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav denied on Friday that the Congress had approached him for support on the nuclear deal. The SP-Congress tango will become official only after Mulayam’s Man Friday, Amar Singh, gives his stamp of approval. Singh is expected back from the US on Monday morning. There is another hurdle to cross. The UNPA, of which the SP is a part, is slated to meet on July 3. Mulayam has said he will decide his future course of action only after that meeting.
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