SP and BSP wait to see who blinks first

While the crisis-ridden UPA government keeps a keen eye on the Samajwadi Party and the BSP, the two regional forces are waiting to see who blinks first on the question of continuing support to the UPA government.

BSP chief Mayawati has played a smart gambit by postponing her decision to the second week of next month.  This gives the BSP enough breathing space. It would give the party time to assess the situation post the Trinamool’s exit from the government.

Interestingly, the SP, which was to take a final decision at its parliamentary board meeting in Delhi on Thursday, has also postponed its meeting. “For the time being, we are supporting the UPA government. But I can’t say how long it would continue,” said SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav.

SP insiders say that ‘Neta ji’ (Mulayam) is keen on an early election as he feels the sweeping party victory in the assembly election could be repeated in the Los Sabha polls if held in the near future. Also, Akhilesh Yadav has a clean record and his government has begun to deliver on the promises made in the party manifesto.

“But even though ‘Neta ji’ wants to be seen agitating against the UPA on issues like price rise, diesel price hike, LPG cylinder subsidy and FDI, he does not want to be the architect of the government’s fall,” said a senior SP leader. “Neta ji is trying to raise the Third Front again but he does not want to close his doors with the Congress,” he explained.

For its part, the BSP does not want an early election as it is still licking its wounds from its humiliating defeat in the UP assembly election. Moreover, the BSP is on the same side as the UPA on the vital question of quotas in promotions. Sources say Congress strategists have approached Mayawati with the offer of joining the government.