While reiterating his party will support the UPA to keep 'communal' forces at bay, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, courting arrest here during Thursday’s Bharat bandh, warned the government that the SP will not tolerate 'anti-people decisions'.
Clearly keeping his Third Front hopes afloat, Mr Yadav snubbed the BJP by ensuring he did not share a dais with top saffron leaders at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Thursday. However, his Third Front pre-poll numbers that are based on a motley group of parties do not seem to add up even if he went out of the way to woo them on Thursday.
Mr Yadav, whose party has bailed out the UPA a number of times, also hinted he would focus more on agitation than destabilising the Centre.
“I have said this several times: we are supporting the government only to stop communal forces. But we will not tolerate price rise,” said Mr Yadav, adding: “If the UPA government does not roll back its recent decisions immediately, we will announce together a strategy on a big agitation.” The SP, with 22 Lok Sabha members, is supporting the UPA-2 government from outside.
The SP chief was speaking to reporters after courting arrest along with CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, the CPI’s A.B. Bardhan and the JD(S)’ H.D. Deve Gowda, a former Prime Minister. Mr Yadav said the government should withdraw “anti-people” decisions like the hike in diesel prices, cap on LPG cylinders and FDI in multi-brand retail.
Asked about the Third Front’s prospects, Mr Yadav said there was 'no better example' than Thursday’s 'huge protests'. He added: “The government has been coming out with policies after policies that affect people... The biggest losers (are) farmers.” Asked about his strategy, he said: “We will tour the entire nation and listen to people’s grievances.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to address the nation on Friday to explain the reasons that forced his government to take these steps. Friday is also the day when TMC chief Mamata Banerjee is expected to withdraw support to the government, pushing UPA-2 into a working minority.