Samajwadi Party (SP) severed its ties with the Democratic Front (DF) government in Maharashtra on Thursday, the day the eight-party coalition completed two years in the office. The party's decision was communicated to chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh by the state unit working president of SP Abu Asim Azmi in a letter, copies of which were released to the media at a news conference by party spokesman Majid Memon in Mumbai.
The decision came in the wake of minister of state for housing Nawab Malik joining NCP on Wednesday. Malik was earlier expelled from the SP for anti-party activities. Previously SP MLA Bashir Patel had defected to NCP.
"We had supported the secular DF government with a view to keep away fundamentalist forces like Shiv Sena and BJP", Azmi said.

"However, atrocities against minorities, including Muslims and dalits are continuing unabated and the government is working on the policies laid down by the erstwhile Sena-BJP government", he claimed.
SP, which had two MLAs in the 288-member lower house, now does not have any representation in the state assembly.
"We might not have any MLA in the assembly but our power among the masses must not be underestimated", Azmi warned in the letter. The letter, a copy of which is also sent to Prof N D Patil, the chairman of the DF's co-ordination committee, accused the Congress and NCP -- the main partners of the DF --of making efforts to weaken SP.

Bureau Report