Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: On a day when the second largest UPA-II ally Trinamool Congress is formally withdrawing its support to the government, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav stepped in to assure his party’s outside support to Congress-led government.
Interacting with mediapersons here, Mulayam Singh Yadav said, “We are giving outside support to UPA to keep communal forces away, but will continue to oppose Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail.”
When asked about his opinion on possibility of mid-term General Elections, the Samajwadi Party supremo said, “We cannot force mid-term polls ask Congress if they want it.”
Raking up the formation of Third Front issue, Mulayam told the reporters that a non Congress, non BJP alliance will win the next elections.
“Third Front will win the next Lok Sabha elelctions,” Mulayam said.
The Congress-led UPA Government appears to be in trouble as of now following West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's declaration that the 19 MPs of Trinamool Congress, the second biggest constituent of the UPA, would be pulling out of the government.
The TMC's decision has brought the UPA's effective strength in the 545-seat Lok Sabha from 273 to 254, slightly below the halfway mark. Now, the ruling Congress is likely to rope in either the Samajwadi Party (SP) or Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), both of which extend outside legislative support to the UPA regime.
First Published: Friday, September 21, 2012, 11:49